l!'J^'iS>W?'^;S^^>^'^NN!^V^S^'SS>->'^:^^^ 


^  Life  of 

Martin  Lather 


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BR  325  .W5  1911 
Winter,  Lovick  Pierce       I 
A  life  of  Martin  Luther,  the 
great  reformer  of  the      i 


A  LIFE  OF  MARTIN  LUTHER 


MARTIN     LUTHER 


x0^  Or  FJif)^ 
A     I  Ti?i7    i-vT?      V       ^'0^    2  1911 

A  LIFE  OF    W  ^^._    . 


MARTIN  LUTHER 

THE    GREAT    REFORMER 

OF  THE  SIXTEENTH 

CENTURY 


BY 

LOVICK  PIERCE  WINTER 


Nashville,  Tenn.;  Dallas,  Tex. 

Publishing  House  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South 

Smith  &  Lamar,  Agents 

191 1 


Copyright,  iqii 

BY 

Smith  &  Lamar 


DEDICATION 


Sin  tijr  Mtmttxy  of  Mq  Fat^n 
John  Christopher  Winter 
Who  was  a  native  of  Germany,  and  was  christened  and  confirmed 
in  the  Lutheran  Church;  who  was  always  loyal  to  the  Fatlicrland 
and  to  the  communion  of  his  fathers;  who  was  equally  loyal  to  the 
land  and  Church  of  his  later  adoption;  and  whose  sturdy  integrity 
and  fidelity  have  been  an  inspiration  to  me  through  all  the  forty 
years  since  he  died,  this  Life  of  Martin  Luther  is  reverently  dedi- 
cated. 

July  ?oth,  iQio. 

(5) 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 
Luther's  Parentage  and  Boyhood 9 

CHAPTER  H. 
Luther's  Education — at  Home  and  School 21 

CHAPTER  HL 
Luther  at  the  University 32 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Luther  Becomes  a  Monk 43 

CHAPTER  V. 
Luther  as  Monk,  Priest,  and  Teacher 53 

CHAPTER  VL 
Luther  at  Wittenburg 64 

CHAPTER  VH. 
Luther  and  His  Age 7S 

CHAPTER  VHL 
Luther  the  Preacher 91 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Luther's  Theses  103 

CHAPTER  X. 
Luther  Defends  His  Theses — The  Reformation  Begins  ijo 

CHAPTER  XL 
Luther  in  the  Gathering  Storm 141 

CHAPTER  XIT. 

Luther,  before  the  Diet  of  Worms i57 

(7) 


8  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Luther  at  the  Diet  of  Worms 165 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
'    Luther  at  the  Wartburg,  and  After 182 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Luther  and  the  Peasants'  War 198 

CHAPTER  XVL 
Luther's  Marriage 214 

CHAPTER  XVIL 
Luther  Up  to  the  Diet  of  Augsburg 226 

CHAPTER  XVIIL 
Luther  at  Coburg,  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  and  Other 
Events    248 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Luther  and  the  Further  Progress  of  the  Reformation  264 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Luther  at  Home  and  among  His  Friends 280 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Luther's  "Table  Talk." 294 

CHAPTER  XXn. 
Luther's  Last  Days 308 


A  LIFE  OF  MARTIN  LUTHER. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Luther's  Parentage  and  Boyhood. 

Saxony  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  Ger- 
man States.  Lying  between  Prussia  and  Austria,  for 
many  centuries  the  rivals  for  German  supremacy,  its 
location  has  made  it  the  battle  ground  in  many  wars 
and  the  burial  ground  of  many  brave  soklicrs.  It  is 
a  land  of  hills  and  forests,  of  cities  and  mines,  of  agri- 
culture and  education,  of  famous  universities  :uid 
noted  manufactures.  In  the  centuries-long  history  of 
Germany,  its  people  have  played  an  important  pari  in 
the  romantic  annals  of  an  always  interesting  race. 

"Marry  your  neighbor's  daughter,"  says  an  old 
German  proverb;  and  so  at  Mohra,  a  little  village  in 
the  very  heart  of  Saxony,  in  the  last  quarter  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  Hans  Luder,  a  peasant,  married  a 
neighboring  girl,  Margaret  Ziegler.  These  were  the 
parents  of  Martin  Luther,  the  great  reformer. 

Mohra  was  a  small,  insignificant  village,  without 
even  a  church,  the  people  worshiping  in  a  sort  of 
chapel-of-ease  affiliated  with  a  neighboring  parish. 
The  neighbors  of  the  newly  married  couple  were  poor, 
but  strong  and  hardy,  ready  at  any  time  for  a  fisticuff 
or  a  foot  race.  The  soil,  too,  was  poor,  much  of  it 
being  moorland,  and  farming  was  not  remunerative. 
Besides  farming,  mining  was  one  of  the  occujiations 

(9) 


10  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

of  the  people  of  Mohra,  and  these  two  strenuous  pur- 
suits bred  a  race  full  of  manly,  muscular  strength,  the 
people  to  whom  in  every  land  the  Church  and  the 
State  must  look  for  preachers  and  statesmen  and  sol- 
diers. 

Hans  Luder,  or  John  Luther  (Hans  and  John  being 
different  derivatives  of  the  German  Johann,  the  spell- 
ing in  that  language  of  the  name  John)  belonged,  as 
his  distinguished  son  was  prou-d  to  say,  to  a  peasant 
family.  But  some  time  in  the  past  the  family  must 
have  had  a  better  standing,  for  there  was  an  ancestral 
coat  of  arms.  This  was  a  crossbow,  with  a  rose  on 
each  side,  a  device  which  seems  altogether  appropriate 
for  Martin  Luther.  The  name  Luther  was  not  origi- 
nally a  surname  but  a  given  name,  and,  according  to 
Kostlin,  is  identical  with  Lothar — "one  distinguished 
in  war."  One  poetically  disposed  might  easily  find  an 
appropriateness  in  the  name  when  borne  by  Martin 
Luther. 

The  name  does  not  appear  in  the  present  spelling 
until  Martin  began  to  distinguish  himself  and  the 
family  name  by  his  work  as  a  reformer.  Possibly  it 
was  an  effort  to  give  the  name  something  of  the  Latin 
spelling,  a  bit  of  amusing  pedantry  quite  common  in 
those  -days.  Sometimes,  as  Greek  was  now  coming 
into  vogue,  men  of  learning  turned  their  surnames  into 
that  language  instead  of  into  Latin.  For  instance,  the 
original  name  of  Melanchthon,  Luther's  fellow-laborer 
in  the  Reformation,  was  Swarzerd  (''black  earth"), 
and  the  bearer  of  the  name,  perhaps  because  he  did 
not  like  its  sound  or  suggestions,  changed  it  into  a 


Luther's  Parc}ilaqc  and  Boyhood. 


T  r 


combination  of  two  Greek  words  which  meant  the 
same  as  the  original  German  name,  but  had  a  more 
agreeable  sound  and  one  that  was  more  classic  and 
scholarly. 

Round  about  Mohra  as  late  as  the  eighties  of  the 
last  century  there  were  several  families  who  bore  tlic 
name  Luther,  and  one  who  was  familiar  with  them 
states  that  they  bore  a  strong  family  resemblance  to 
their  illustrious  kinsman  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  name  of  Martin  Luther's  mother  has  been  given 
by  all  the  authorities  as  Margaret  Lindemann.  But 
Julius  Kostlin,  who  has  already  been  referred  to,  and 
to  whom  all  biographers  of  Luther  must  hereafter  ac- 
knowledge their  indebtedness,  says  that  this  was  the 
name  of  Luther's  grandmother,  and  not  of  his  mother, 
and  that  Luther's  mother  was  Margaret  Ziegler. 

Some  months  after  their  marriage  John  Luther  and 
his  young  wife  changed  their  home  from  Mohra  to 
Eisleben.  The  enemies  of  Luther,  ready  always  to  ac- 
cept every  slander  put  into  circulation  about  himself 
and  his  family  and  to  supply  all  that  they  did  not  find 
ready  at  their  hand,  have  asserted  that  the  reason  for 
moving  to  Eisleben  was  that  John  Luther  had  killed  n 
neighbor  and  fled  to  the  latter  place  for  safety.  This 
story  is  so  absurd  on  its  face  that  it  is  manifest  nothing 
but  the  malignant  hatred  of  Luther's  foes  could  have 
given  it  any  sort  of  currency,  even  in  the  times  of  the 
Reformation.  In  fact,  the  story  seems  to  have  had 
larger  circulation  and  credence  in  recent  times  than  it 
had  in  the  days  of  John  Luther.  If  the  elder  Luther 
had  been  a  fugitive  from  justice,  as  this  account  a^- 


12  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

serts,  he  would  hardly  have  fled  only  a  few  miles  and 
then  taken  up  his  home  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
same  ruler,  who  was  the  elector  of  Saxony. 

John  Luther  was  a  miner  by  occupation.  Copper 
was  beginning  to  be  mined  in  the  country  round  about 
Eisleben,  and  he  went  thither,  and  later  still  to  Mans- 
feld,  that  he  might  find  more  work  in  his  chosen  call- 
ing. He  prospered  in  the  course  of  time,  and  con- 
trolled two  furnaces. 

While  the  two  young  people  were  resident  at  Eis- 
leben, Frau  Luther  gave  birth  to  her  first-born  child. 
This  babe  was  the  infant  who,  in  the  course  of  time  and 
in  the  providence  of  God,  led  the  forces  in  the  great 
Reformation  which  in  a  few  years  was  to  change  the 
history  of  all  Europe  and  the  world.  The  date  of  this 
important  advent  and  event  was  November  lo,  1483. 

If  Sixtus  IV.,  whose  shameful  and  shameless  reign 
as  pope  came  to  its  ignominious  close  the  next  year, 
had  but  known  the  epochal  event,  that  ecclesiastical 
seeker  of  a  worldly  kingdom  would  have  left  off  his 
effort  to  crush  the  Medici  and  to  set  his  nephew  up 
in  a  principality,  and  delayed  his  treacherous  murder 
of  a  man  he  had  taken  prisoner  long  enough  to  have 
repeated  Herod's  slaughter  of  the  innocents,  in  order 
to  rid  the  papacy  of  a  man  who  was  destined  to  wrest 
much  of  its  ill-gotten  power  from  its  rapacious  hands. 
But  Sixtus  had  no  wise  men  to  tell  of  the  star  in  the 
east,  nor  did  he  know  what  manner  of  child  this  infant 
son  of  a  German  peasant  might  be. 

The  good  mother  was  always  certain  as  to  the  hour 
(which   was    between    eleven    and    twelve   o'clock    at 


Liit/icr's  Parentage  and  Boyhood.  13 

night)  and  the  day  and  the  month,  but  was  not  so  sure 
about  the  year. 

The  next  day  after  the  young  child  opened  his  eyes 
upon  the  earth  which  he  was  to  help  to  reconquer  for 
his  Master,  he  was  taken  by  his  devout  and  grateful 
father  to  the  church  and  baptized.  As  the  day  was 
St.  Martin's  eve,  the  boy  was  christened  Martin. 

The  house  where  Martin  Luther  was  born  was  part- 
ly destroyed  by  fire  many  years  ago,  but  some  of  the 
old  structure  is  still  standing,  and  is  shown  with  nnich 
pride  to  travelers.  And  various  localities  here  and 
elsewhere,  identified  with  the  history  of  Luther,  have 
been  marked  by  appropriate  monuments.  It  was  a 
singular  coincidence  that  Luther  should  die  in  the 
very  town  where  he  was  born. 

It  has  been  previously  stated  that  John  Luther  pros- 
pered in  business,  a  fact  which  illustrates  the  industry 
and  enterprise  of  the  father  of  the  great  reformer. 
But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  this  prosperity  came 
at  once.  At  first  there  was  deep  poverty.  And  the 
family  increased  after  the  patriarchal  manner  of  the 
old  German  stock.  There  were  at  least  seven  children 
in  all;  and  to  maintain  these  and  keep  the  oklest  son 
in  school  made  the  home  of  John  and  Margaret  Lu- 
ther anything  but  the  abode  of  luxury  and  ease.  Ger- 
man women  of  the  middle  and  lower  classes  have  al- 
ways been  accustomed  to  some  forms  of  labor  that  in 
some  other  lands  have  been  regarded  as  too  arduous, 
if  not  too  menial,  for  females.  Many  a  good  German 
housewife  has  helped  her  husband  in  the  field,  assist- 
ing him  in  saving  the  flax  or  hay  or  grain  and  in  tend- 


14  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

ing  the  cattle,  and  felt  no  incongruity  between  her  task 
and  her  sex.  This  outdoor  life  in  their  early  years  no 
doubt  accounts  in  no  small  degree  for  the  notable  fresh- 
ness and  vitality  of  German  women.  The  kitchen,  the 
cow  stall,  and  the  hay  field  may  not  afford  as  fine  cul- 
ture as  the  parlor,  the  seminary,  and  the  social  gath- 
ering, but  they  fit  women  for  wifehood,  motherhood, 
and  womanhood  in  at  least  the  physical  strength 
which  they  impart.  Male  Germans  have  often  gone 
very  far  afield  in  their  learning  and  philosophy,  but 
the  average  German  woman  has  been  faithful  to  the 
standard  of  Naomi  and  Ruth. 

Martin  Luther  tells  us  that  his  mother  performed 
much  hard  work  in  the  home;  that  she  often  brought 
fire  wood  on  her  shoulders  and  did  many  such  like 
tasks.  But  we  may  be  sure  that  the  worthy  John  was 
not  idle  all  this  while.  Tending  furnaces  is  very 
exacting  work,  and  John  Luther  ate  no  idle  bread  and 
slept  no  needless  slumber.  Martin  in  after  years 
honored  his  father  with  the  reverence  of  a  true  son, 
and  did  not  forget  to  record  the  fact  that  the  means 
necessary  to  keep  him  in  school  were  earned  by  his 
father  "by  the  sweat  of  his  brow." 

John  Luther  was  a  man  of  decided  character  and 
most  independent  convictions.  Two  or  three  authen- 
tic incidents  will  illustrate  this.  Once,  when  very  sick 
and  apparently  near  death,  an  attending  priest  sug- 
gested that  the  sick  man  ought  before  he  died  to 
make  a  donation  to  the  Church.  *'My  family  need  my 
property  worse  than  the  Church  does,  and  I  shall 
leave  it  to  them,"  said  the  strong-headed  sick  man. 


'^  Luther's  Parentage  and  Boyhood.  15 

As  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  was  receiving  reve- 
nues from  more  than  half  the  land  in  Germany  at 
this  time,  this  announcement  from  the  elder  Luther 
indicated  no  lack  of  liberality  to  the  Church. 

When  Martin  Luther  decided  to  enter  a  monastery, 
and  v\^hen  he  endeavored  to  satisfy  the  father  that  he 
had  a  call  from  God  to  this  life,  the  father  said : 
"Pray  God  that  it  may  not  be  a  delusion  of  the  devil 
rather  than  a  call  from  God." 

And  discussing  this  same  matter  with  some  of  the 
high  dignitaries  of  the  Church,  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
tell  them  that  they  ha-d  encouraged  his  son  to  violate 
the  fifth  commandment.  The  practical,  hard-handed, 
hard-headed  old  German  had  little  patience  with  a 
religion  which  taught  that  men  must  shut  themselves 
up  from  their  fellow-men  and  from  the  ordinary  and 
needful  employments  of  life  in  order  to  be  the  ac- 
cepted servants  of  the  Lord.  Possibly  John  Lutlier 
did  not  reason  it  all  out  at  once,  but  there  is  gofxl 
cause  for  believing  that  this  honest-hearted,  hard- 
working man  protested  against  the  other-worldliness 
which  prayed  and  fasted  and  flagellated  itself,  or,  de- 
spairing of  whipping  religion  into  the  soul  through 
the  body  or  fasting  the  depravity  out  of  the  heart, 
betook  itself  to  the  easy  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of 
other  men's  toil  or,  mayhap,  to  the  grosser  forms  of 
carnal  enjoyment. 

But  John  Luther  was  a  really  religious  man.  He 
prayed  by  the  bedside  of  his  children,  gave  them  moral 
instruction,  and  exercised  a  fatherly  authority  over 
them.     He  believed  as  firmly  in  the  rod  as  did  King 


1 6  'A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

Solomon,  and  one  might  be  disposed  to  think  from  the 
results  that  he  put  that  faith  into  practice  more  wisely 
and  seasonably  than  did  the  father  of  Rehoboam.  Pos- 
sibly in  no  Christian  land  is  the  authority  of  the  father 
so  fully  recognized  as  in  Germany.  To  other  peoples 
the  naiive  land  is  the  ''mother  country,"  to  the  Ger- 
man it  is  the  "fatherland."  And  these  old  Teutons 
have  been  great  home  makers  and  home  lovers.  In 
their  native  land,  and  in  the  many  lands  into  which 
they  have  wandered,  they  have  shown  this  racial  and 
national  trait,  which  has  made  Germany  what  it  is  and 
Germans  the  best  of  citizens  in  all  the  countries  where 
they  have  found  a  home. 

So  stern  was  John  Luther  in  his  family  government 
that  his  son  Llartin  spoke  of  it  depreciatingly  in  his 
after  life.  "Parents  should  control  their  children," 
he  said,  "but  they  should  love  them  also." 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  that  this  hard-handed  old 
German  might  not  always  be  soft-handed  in  control- 
ling his  household.  Whatever  Martin  Luther  may 
have  thought  of  the  severity  of  the  paternal  discipline, 
he  never  doubted  his  father's  love;  and  he  had  no 
reason  to  doubt  it.  The  interest  John  Luther  took  in 
the  education  of  his  children,  especially  his  son  Mar- 
tin, considering  the  age  in  which  he  lived  and  the 
poverty  of  the  family,  shows  that  the  elder  Luther 
was  a  man  of  unusual  aspirations.  It  would  seem  as 
if  a  prophetic  voice  had  whispered  into  the  heart  of 
the  father  some  intimation  of  what  his  son  would  be 
and  do,  and  thus  urged  him  on  to  self-denying  effort 
in  behalf  of  his  boy's  education.    He  toiled  in  the  mine 


Luther  s  Parentage  and  Boyhood.  \y 

or  in  the  furnace  by  day  and  by  night,  that  his  first- 
born son  might  be  educated.  This  was  the  ruHng 
passion  of  his  hfe.  By  the  time  Martin  was  six  years 
old  he  had  been  taught  to  read.  Of  Martin's  school 
days  we  shall  speak  later. 

Not  much  is  recorded  of  Martin  Luther's  mother. 
And  perhaps  there  was  not  much  to  record.  The  work 
of  a  wife  and  mother  affords  little  material  for  written 
history.  About  all  that  her  contemporaries  said  of 
Margaret  Luther  was  that  she  was  a  good  woman. 
In  her  humble  home  close  to  the  Harz  Mountains 
this  true-hearted  German  woman,  unknown  beyond  the 
narrow  circle  of  her  neighborhood,  and  little  known 
even  yet,  was  making  a  history  destined  to  be  record- 
ed in  many  languages  and  in  many  lands  and  in  the 
lives  of  many  generations  yet  unborn.  She  was,  no 
doubt,  just  a  plain  woman,  a  good  housekeeper,  as  is 
the  manner  of  German  women,  too  busy  with  her 
duties  as  mother  and  wife  to  spend  much  time  in  day- 
dreams, and  quite  content  so  long  as  her  husband  and 
children  were  fed  and  clothed  and  sheltered  and 
nursed.  And  she  knew  how  to  use  the  rod  as  unspar- 
ingly as  did  John  Luther.  Martin  says  that  she 
whipped  him  once  till  the  blood  came  because  he  took 
a  nut  without  her  permission.  It  was  possibly  not  the 
size  of  the  nut  but  the  largeness  of  the  lesson  of  hon- 
esty which  the  son  needed  that  nerved  the  arm  of  the 
mother  on  this  occasion. 

What  mental  traits  Martin  inherited  from  his  mother 
we  can  only  conjecture.  Perhaps  he  learned  from  her, 
while  still  a  child  around  her  knees,  some  of  those  Ics- 

2 


i8  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

sons  of  faith,  tinged  with  superstition,  which  clung  to 
him  all  his  life. 

The  Germans,  like  their  neighbors  in  Northern  Eu- 
rope, have  always  been  rich  in  folklore.  The  climate, 
the  scenery,  the  productions,  the  occupations — these, 
with  many  other  facts,  always  including  the  history  of 
a  people,  give  origin  and  shape  to  the  nursery  tales, 
the  fiction  and  the  poetry  of  a  nation.  Tolstoy,  as  much 
of  a  hermit  as  he  has  sought  to  make  of  himself,  has 
nevertheless  been  true  to  the  uncompromising  seasons, 
the  snowstorms,  the  fearful  winters,  and  the  short  sum  - 
mers  of  his  native  land  in  the  strange,  half  savage,  half 
Christian  literature  he  has  sent  forth  from  his  home  in 
the  wide  domain  of  the  Czar,  and  true,  too,  to  the  po- 
litical conditions  of  a  nation  that  Americans  cannot  un- 
derstand. And  the  folklore  of  the  Germans  is  true  to 
the  land  of  its  birth,  a  land  of  long  winters  and  short 
summers,  of  snow  and  ice  and  the  bitter  north  wind, 
of  wooded  hills  and  forest-covered  mountains  which 
woo  the  imagination  to  thoughts  of  sprites  and  genii, 
of  plains  and  meadows  and  fields  of  grain,  of  cities  and 
homes  and  patriotic  traditions,  and  a  land  whose  very 
history  is  an  education  to  its  inhabitants  in  all  that  is 
heroic  in  war  and  lovable  in  peace. 

We  may  be  sure  that  Frau  Luther  did  not  neglect  to 
tell  her  children  of  the  many  traditions  of  her  people, 
and  also  those  weird  stories  of  strange  beings,  on  the 
earth  but  not  of  it,  who  kept  guard  over  the  mountain 
heights  not  far  away,  of  those  giants  of  old,  and  of  the 
saints  from  St.  Christopher  to  St.  Ursula.  And  it  was 
an  age  when  the  wisest  men  believed  in  witchcraft. 


Luther's  Parentage  and  Boyhood.  19 

The  year  after  Martin  Luther  was  born  a  famous  papal 
bull  was  issued,  allowing  the  punishment  of  any  per- 
son found  guilty  of  practicing  this  occult  art  of  evil. 
We  smile  now  at  all  this  superstition,  or  pity  the  men 
and  women  whose  lives  were  tormented  by  it ;  but  even 
Lecky,  the  rationalist,  admits  that  the  evidence  brought 
forward  in  the  trials  of  some  that  were  accused  of 
witchcraft  was  quite  enough  to  convict,  if  witchcraft 
were  only  a  fact.  The  stories  that  young  Martin  heard 
from  his  mother's  lips  about  all  these  things  affected 
his  whole  after  life.  The  faith  of  childhood  abides 
through  all  the  after  years,  sometimes  when  men  would 
throw  it  ofif;  and  faith  that  is  wholly  false,  or  half  true, 
seems  more  tenacious  than  true  faith.  Martin  Luther's 
realistic  faith  in  the  devil,  who  was  to  him  a  real  per- 
sonality, sometimes  visible  and  tangible,  and  always 
alert  and  diabolically  active,  came,  we  may  be  assured, 
not  from  the  Church  alone,  but  from  the  stories  he 
heard  from  his  mother  in  his  childhood  home  in  Mans- 
feld.  And  when  in  after  years  he  chose  St.  Anne,  the 
reputed  mother  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  as  his  patron  saint, 
his  superstition  was  not  merely  the  result  of  the  train- 
ing of  the  Church  upon  himself,  but  to  the  effect  of 
that  training  upon  the  mother.  Mothers,  and  not 
Churches  or  theological  seminaries,  make  the  faith  of 
a  people.  If  Martin  Luther's  mother  had  not  been  a 
believer  in  the  Christianity  of  her  times,  Martin  Lu- 
ther had  not  been  the  reformer.  Such  a  son  could  not 
have  been  the  child  of  an  irreligious  mother.  Men  get 
their  best  or  their  worst  natures  from  their  mothers. 
From  the  sturdy  Hans  Luther  Martin  inherited  his 


20  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

courage,  his  common  sense,  and  his  indomitable  will ; 
from  Margaret  Luther  he  inherited  his  religious  bent 
and  that  honesty  and  sensitiveness  of  conscience  which 
made  of  him  first  a  monk  and  finally  the  reformer. 

Luther's  childhood,  according  to  his  own  testimony, 
was  not  as  happy  as  we  generally  suppose  childhood 
to  be.  His  father  was  a  rigid  disciplinarian,  his  mother 
was  too  busy  with  her  manifold  duties  to  be  as 
thoughtful  and  considerate  of  the  boy's  feelings  as 
she  might  have  been,  perhaps,  and  his  sensitive  nature 
(for  he  was  evidently  a  sensitive  child)  distorted 
every  little  grievance  into  a  great  wrong,  as  his  con- 
science magnified  every  act  of  evil  into  a  mortal  sin. 
But  what  he  says  on  this  subject  should  not  be  con- 
strued into  bitter  complaints  against  his  parents.  Much 
of  what  he  said  in  his  later  life  about  every  matter 
that  he  spoke  of  in  his  sermons  and  in  his  "table  talk" 
was  intended  to  illustrate  or  to  impress  some  truth  or 
duty.  We  cannot  conceive  of  Martin  Luther  as  a 
weak,  shrinking,  pliable  child,  always  obedient  and 
always  docile.  Such  a  child  could  not  have  grown  into 
such  a  man.  John  Luther  may  have  been  too  austere 
at  times,  but  less  firmness  might  have  ruined  his  son. 
His  love  for  his  son  was  not  that  spineless  love  which 
yields  complaisantly  to  the  wishes  of  a  child  rather 
than  meet  the  Inevitable  conflict  between  will  and  will 
involved  In  parental  control.  Martin  Luther  was  a 
normal  boy,  full  of  life  and  fun  and  frolic,  hard-headed 
like  his  father,  no  doubt,  and  not  unhappy  long  at  a 
time.  And  that  his  parents  were  wise  and  faithful, 
his  whole  career  Is  witness. 


CHAPTER  IT. 
Luther's  Education — At  Home  and  at  Sciioql. 
This  began  at  an  early  age,  and  began,  as  all  edu- 
cation should  begin,  at  home.  The  printing  press  had 
brought  books  within  the  reach  of  people  to  whose 
fathers  they  were  unknown  luxuries.  And  the  elder 
Luther  loved  good  books,  and  read  as  many  of  them 
as  were  accessible  and  as  he  could  spare  the  time  to 
read,  for  he  was  always  a  busy  man.  As  the  years 
passed,  and  the  diligent  and  enterprising  Hans  Luther 
began  to  gather  means,  he  bought  himself  a  home,  and 
made  this  home  not  only  the  center  of  comfort  for  his 
household,  but  opened  its  hospitable  doors  to  men  of 
learning  especially,  and  around  the  table  over  their 
simple  meals  host  and  guests  discussed  many  ques- 
tions of  politics,  and  more  frequently  questions  of  re- 
ligion and  matters  of  wide  range  in  general  knowledge. 
Froude  remarks  upon  the  marvelous  extent  of  Luther's 
information,  and  we  may  be  sure  that  the  foundations 
for  this  broad  and  comprehensive  learning  were  laid 
in  the  parental  home  at  IMansfeld.  A  child  learns 
more  in  the  first  ten  years  of  his  life  than  he  learns  in 
any  other  decade,  however  long  he  may  live  and  how- 
ever studious  he  may  be.  He  finds  a  teacher  every- 
where— in  birds,  in  sunshine,  in  trees,  in  flowers,  in 
growing  grain,  in  his  companions,  and,  above  all,  in 
his  parents  and  in  his  home.  And  Martin  Luther's 
parents  were  faithful  teachers  and  his  childhood  iiome 
was  a  good  school. 

(21) 


22  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

He  was  sent  away  from  home  to  school  at  a  tender 
age.  Frequently  his  father,  busy  as  he  was,  would 
carry  the  little  fellow  to  the  schoolhouse  on  his  back, 
especially  when  the  weather  was  bad.  A  young  man 
named  Nicholas  Emler  often  performed  a  similar 
kindly  office  for  the  young  student.  This  young  man 
afterwards  married  a  sister  of  Martin  Luther,  and 
the  latter  used  to  refer  good-humoredly  to  the  days 
when  he  went  to  school  on  the  back  of  his  older  friend, 
now  become  his  brother-in-law. 

George  Emilius,  who  evidently  had  more  scholar- 
ship in  his  name  than  in  his  pedagogic  equipment,  was 
young  Martin's  first  school-teacher.  This  individual, 
historic  by  reason  of  his  connection  with  the  young  life 
of  the  future  reformer,  seemed  to  have  had  only  two 
qualifications  for  his  place  as  school-teacher — his  cru- 
elty and  his  incompetency.  He  was  a  prototype  of 
Master  Squeers,  of  Dotheboys  Hall.  What  he  could 
not  impart  with  the  end  of  his  tongue  he  imparted 
with  the  end  of  his  rod  ;  and  since  the  former  was  small, 
the  latter  was  necessarily  large.  Luther  tells  us  that 
this  same  George  Emilius  flogged  him  fifteen  times  in 
one  day,  and  all  because  Luther  could  not  repeat  what 
the  master  had  never  taught  him.  Such  an  experience 
was  at  least  a  lesson  in  numeration.  The  wonder  is 
that  the  boy  had  sense  enough  to  keep  count  through 
all  these  floggings.  Such  cruelty  would  have  crushed 
the  spirit  of  a  weaker  child  or  driven  him  to  despera- 
tion. One  marvels  that  the  child  did  not  get  such  a 
distaste  for  learning  as  to  hate  the  very  name  of  schol- 
arship and  the  very  sight  of  books.    And  the  patience 


Luther's  Education.  23 

and  persistence  of  Hans  Luther  through  all  this  in- 
human treatment  of  his  eldest  son  find  their  only  ex- 
planation in  the  fact  that  the  father  had  determined 
that  the  son  should  be  educated.  In  after  years  Luthcr 
spoke  of  the  school-teachers  of  the  times  as  tyrants 
and  executioners,  of  the  schools  as  prisons  and  hells, 
and  declared  that,  despite  all  the  cruelty  in  the  en- 
forcement of  discipline,  little  was  taught  the  pupils. 
And  one  is  not  surprised  that  he  had  this  opinion. 

In  the  school  at  Mansfeld,  notwithstanding  the  harsh 
discipline  of  George  Emilius,  young  Luther  learned  to 
read  and  write,  and  even  learned  something  of  Latin. 
And  like  many  another  student  of  the  Roman  tongue, 
he  found  bewilderment  and  discouragement  in  the  de- 
clension of  Latin  nouns  and  the  conjugation  of  Latin 
verbs. 

The  schoolhouse  where  young  Luther  attended 
school  in  Mansfeld  was  standing  a  few  years  ago,  at 
least  the  lower  part  of  the  building  was.  Its  site  is 
at  the  end  of  the  principal  street  of  the  village,  which 
climbed  a  hill  to  this  point;  and  the  school  therefore 
commanded  a  view  of  the  little  town  and  the  surround- 
ing country.  Here  in  the  long  ago  the  boy  began  his 
first  systematic  study  of  his  mother  tongue,  a  lan- 
guage he  made  the  permanent  speech  of  his  people  for 
all  the  ages  since  by  translating  into  it  the  P>iblc,  a 
book  he  did  not  see  in  its  entirety  till  years  and  years 
after  this. 

When  Luther  was  fourteen,  his  father  decided  to 
send  him  away  from  liome  to  find  a  better  school. 
George  Reinicke,  a  son  of  the  superintendent  of  the 


24  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

mines  in  Mansfeld,  had  been  in  school  in  Magdeburg, 
and  doubtless  on  that  account  the  father  chose  to  send 
Martin  thither.  The  two  youths  went  alone  and  on 
foot.  George  Reinicke  afterwards  in  his  manhood 
rose  to  a  position  of  great  usefulness  in  the  mines  at 
Mansfeld,  and  he  and  Luther  were  lifelong  friends. 

What  particular  school  Luther  attended  in  Magde- 
burg is  not  known,  and  little  is  recorded  of  his  ex- 
periences in  this  city.  He  tarried  here  a  year,  in  much 
poverty  all  the  time,  and  in  abject  want  some  of  the 
time.  Whatever  else  he  learned  in  the  schools  here, 
a  twelve  months'  stay  in  this  city  by  the  Elbe  was 
itself  an  education  to  the  rustic  but  wide-awake  youth 
from  Mansfeld.  Here  was  an  old  cathedral  where 
was  buried  the  body  of  Otto  the  Great,  the  founder 
of  the  city,  and  here  were  many  fortifications,  and,  bet- 
ter still,  much  of  the  growing  commerce  of  this  ad- 
vancing age.  As  the  boy,  often  homesick  and  lonely, 
walked  the  one  great,  wide  street  and  the  many  nar- 
row, crooked  streets  of  the  city,  he  did  not  dream  of 
the  effect  his  life  work  would  have  upon  the  destinies 
of  a  people  who  had  no  doubt  passed  him  by  with  only- 
such  notice  and  such  charity  as  they  were  accustomed 
to  give  mendicant  students.  One  of  the  popes  had 
made  Magdeburg  the  principal  see  of  the  Primate  of 
Germany,  and  about  the  city  gathered  many  Romish 
traditions  and  associations ;  but  the  city  was  early  in 
its  acceptance  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation, 
and  suffered  greatly  because  of  its  Protestantism.  In 
the  Thirty  Years'  War,  which  was  one  of  the  bloody 
sequels  of  the  Reformation,  the  city  was  taken  by  the 


Luther's  Education.  25 

Imperialists  after  a  protracted  siege,  and  for  three 
days  it  was  given  over  to  pillage  and  flame.  Thirty 
thousand  of  its  inhabitants  perished,  others  threw 
themselves  into  the  Elbe  to  escape  from  their  pitiless 
conquerors,  and  only  one  hundred  and  thirty  houses 
and  the  cathedral  were  left  standing  after  this  ordeal 
of  blood  and  fire.  But  the  city  rose  from  its  ashes, 
became  a  greater  city  than  ever  before,  and  it  is  to- 
day one  of  the  great  railroad  centers  of  Prussian  Sax- 
ony.   And  it  has  never  given  up  its  Protestantism. 

A  medical  friend  of  Luther's  records  the  only  re- 
membered incident  of  the  young  student's  stay  in 
Magdeburg.  Martin  was  very  sick  with  a  high  fever, 
and,  as  was  the  custom  in  those  days,  he  was  not  al- 
lowed to  drink  any  water.  One  day  while  all  the 
members  of  the  family  were  away  from  home,  tor- 
mented by  thirst,  he  crawled  out  of  bed  and  into  the 
kitchen,  and,  getting  some  water,  he  drank  to  his 
heart's  content.  Crawling  back  to  his  bed  again,  no 
doubt  with  direful  expectations  as  to  the  consequences 
of  his  imprudence,  he  fell  asleep,  and  awoke  without 
fever.  And  so,  even  then,  he  was  setting  at  naught 
the  teachings  of  contemporary  medical  science,  as  he 
afterwards  did  contemporary  theology. 

As  already  stated,  young  Martin  attended  school  at 
Magdeburg  only  a  twelvemonth.  At  fifteen  he  was 
sent  to  school  at  Eisenach.  This  town  is  delightfully 
situated  among  wooded  hills,  and  is  even  yet,  though 
a  place  with  less  than  20,000  people,  not  merely  a 
thriving  little  city,  but  likewise  the  center  of  nuich  in- 
tellieence.     Its  streets  are  broad  and  clean,  and  it  is, 


26  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

as  it  no  doubt  was  in  the  days  of  Luther,  a  worthy 
specimen  of  a  German  town. 

Hans  Luther  had  numerous  relatives  in  Eisenach 
and  in  the  country  round  about,  and  he  sent  Martin 
to  school  here  with  a  hope,  perhaps,  that  these  kindred 
would  assist  the  struggling  youth  in  his  effort  to  get 
an  education.  But  none  of  them  seems  to  have  been 
in  a  position  to  help  Martin  except  one  named  Kon- 
rad,  who  was  a  man  of  means  and  standing  in  the 
town. 

In  the  old  days  in  Germany  It  was  not  uncommon 
for  men  of  prominence  to  send  their  sons  to  school 
without  providing  fully  for  their  maintenance.  In 
such  cases  the  impecunious  students  would  go  sing- 
ing from  door  to  door,  especially  at  Christmas  time, 
and  would  gladly  accept  such  help  as  the  people  of 
the  town  and  adjacent  count/y  were  willing  to  give 
them.  And  many  a  hungry  lad  received  a  loaf  of 
good  German  bread  or  a  sausage  and,  mayhap,  a  pot 
of  beer,  which  was  the  daily  drink  of  the  people.  Pos- 
sibly this  custom  had  its  origin  in  the  wandering  life 
of  the  minstrels,  who  carried  the  song  of  minnesinger 
and  troubadour  from  castle  to  castle  and  from  home 
to  home  in  Germany  and  other  nations  of  Europe; 
and,  no  doubt,  the  serenade,  so  common  in  so  many 
lands,  particularly  in  Southern  Europe  and  Spanish 
America,  had  a  similar  origin. 

Martin  Luther  was  one  of  the  student  serenaders 
of  his  times,  and  was  never  ashamed  of  the  fact.  In 
later  life  he  spoke  a  kindly  word  in  behalf  of  poor 
young  men  who  were  seeking  an  education  in  poverty, 


Luther's  Education.  27 

and  acknowledged  that  he  himself  used  to  go  from 
door  to  door  singing  for  a  piece  of  bread,  "for  the 
love  of  God." 

On  one  occasion,  at  Christmas  time,  Martin  and 
some  of  his  fellow-students  approached  a  lonely  farm- 
house and  sang  their  song.  The  owner  came  out  with 
two  great  sausages  in  his  hand,  and  called  out  gruffly : 
"Where  are  you,  you  young  rascals?"  The  boys 
thought  the  old  farmer  was  angry,  and,  taking  friglit, 
ran  away  as  fast  as  their  young  legs  could  carry  them. 
But  the  kind-hearted  old  farmer  was  not  to  be  out- 
done in  his  efforts  to  satisfy  the  appetites  of  his  stu- 
dent visitors,  so  he  went  after  them  and,  calling  them 
back,  he  gave  them  the  sausages. 

Another  outcome  of  this  wandering  minstrelsy  was 
one  of  the  happiest  episodes  in  the  whole  life  of  Mar- 
tin Luther.  In  the  town  lived  a  prominent  and  well- 
to-do  family  named  Cotta.  Frau  Cotta,  the  good 
Ursula,  was  attracted  by  the  sweet  and  plaintive  voice 
of  the  boy  Luther,  and  drawn  to  him  by  his  evident 
piety.  Martin's  voice  was  a  tenor,  and  while  it  was 
not  loud,  it  had  great  carrying  power  and  was  sweet 
and  pathetically  tender  as  he  sang  the  hymns  with 
which  the  German  language  was  even  then  well  sup- 
plied. The  young  student  not  only  sang  but  played 
on  the  flute,  which  he  learned  without  an  instructor, 
and  was  a  lifelong  lover  of  music,  which  he  declared 
was  one  of  God's  best  gifts  to  men.  Frau  Cotta,  with 
the  full  consent  of  her  worthy  husband,  Konrad  Cot- 
ta, invited  Martin  into  her  home;  and  if  he  did  not 
become  a  reo^ular  inmate  of  the  family,  he  was  always 


28  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

a  welcome  guest  at  her  table.  Her  kindness  to  the 
youth  afterwards  to  become  the  great  reformer  has 
made  the  name  of  Ursula  Cotta  a  household  word  in 
every  German  home  and  given  her  memory  a  warm 
place  in  the  hearts  of  the  Germans  in  their  native 
land  and  in  every  other  land  whither  they  have  gone 
in  search  of  homes  and  wealth.  In  this  home  Luther 
was  first  brought  into  intimate  association  with  people 
of  greater  culture  than  the  inhabitants  of  the  mining 
town  of  Mansfeld,  and  thus  acquired  the  social  polish 
which  afterwards  made  him  the  welcome  companion 
of  nobles  and  princes.  From  his  peasant  neighbors 
among  the  miners  in  his  old  home  he  had  learned 
many  of  those  rough  lessons  of  life  which  he  needed 
in  his  life  work,  especially  that  sympathy  for  the  poor, 
without  which  no  man  can  be  a  political  and  religious 
reformer;  and  now  he  was  to  learn  some  of  those 
patrician  lessons  which  he  needed  in  order  to  enlist 
the  cooperation  of  men  of  noble  birth  in  the  work 
for  which  he  was  all  the  time  unconsciously  prepar- 
ing. The  daughter  of  Pharaoh  unwittingly  and  unin- 
tentionally trained  for  his  life  work  the  man  that  was 
to  despoil  Egypt;  Frau  Cotta  unwittingly  but  gladly 
helped  to  prepare  Martin  Luther  for  the  deliverance 
of  the  Church  from  the  bondage  of  Rome,  a  bondage 
worse  than  the  slavery  of  Egypt.  But  she  did  not 
live  long  enough  to  share  in  the  fruits  of  the  life  la- 
bors of  her  protege.  The  good  Ursula  Cotta  died  in 
15 1 1,  six  years  before  Martin  Luther  nailed  his  theses 
to  the  door  of  the  church  at  Wittenberg. 

It  was  her  kindness  to  him  and  his  knowledge  of 


Luther's  Ldiicalion.  29 

her  beautiful  character  that  inspired  Luther's  saying, 
"There  is  nothing  sweeter  than  the  heart  of  a  pious 
woman." 

Young  Martin  found  other  friends  at  Eisenach. 
Among  these  was  a  learned  man,  one  Father  Wie- 
gand,  with  whom  he  maintained  in  after  life  a  warm 
and  intimate  friendship.  This  friendship  was  formed 
during  the  time  that  Luther  was  Father  Wiegand's 
pupil  at  Eisenach.  Another  teacher  there  was  a 
learned  poet  named  John  Trebonius.  This  teacher 
was  evidently  a  gentleman,  for  it  is  recorded  tliat  on 
entering  the  schoolroom  in  the  morning  he  would  take 
off  his  hat  and  bow  politely  to  the  students.  When 
some  one  of  less  good  manners  rallied  him  on  account 
of  this,  he  said:  "Why,  there  may  be  among  these 
youths  a  future  mayor  or  chancellor  or  learned  doc- 
tor." 

This  prophetic  assumption  was  more  than  justified 
in  the  case  of  his  pupil,  Martin  Luther.  But  whether 
the  polite  Trebonius  discovered  anything  in  the  young 
man  that  inspired  any  special  expectations  with  ref- 
erence to  Luther's  future  career  we  do  not  know. 

Young  Martin  was  a  hard,  diligent  student.  What- 
ever he  may  have  lost  during  the  weary,  cruel  days 
under  George  Emilius  was  fully  made  up  by  his  ap- 
plication at  Eisenach.  He  outstripped  his  fellow- 
students,  and  stood  w^ell  in  all  his  classes.  And  these 
days  of  youthful  danc^er  to  his  moral  character  were 
not  marred  by  youthful  excesses  and  dissipations. 
Even  his  w^orst  enemies  during  his  lifetime  never 
charged  him  with  dissolute  habits.    Men  whose  youths 


30  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

were  marred  by  gross  sins  have  in  after  life  rendered 
mighty  service  in  the  rescue  of  the  fallen,  sometimes 
outstripping  in  their  zeal  the  activity  >of  men  of 
chaster  lives;  but  when  the  Lord  hath  had  need  of 
a  great  apostle,  a  great  reformer,  a  great  revivalist, 
or  a  great  religious  pioneer,  he  has  chosen  a  Paul,  a 
Luther,  a  Wesley,  or  a  Francis  Asbury — men  of  clean 
youth,  who  never  knew  the  debasing  effects  of  drunk- 
enness and  debauchery.  Great  sinners  have  found 
a  place  of  repentance  and  great  usefulness  in  the  sav- 
ing of  other  great  sinners;  but  sin  has  never  been 
good  training  for  great  service  in  the  Church. 

At  Eisenach  Luther  acquired  a  good  knowledge  of 
Latin,  mastering  it  sufficiently  well  to  write  Latin 
verse. 

In  addition  to  Latin,  Luther  took  substantially  what 
we  call  the  academic  course  at  Eisenach.  The  author- 
ities say  he  studied  "the  arts."  These,  according  to 
the  classification  of  the  Schoolmen  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
were  seven  in  number:  grammar,  logic,  rhetoric  (two 
branches),  arithmetic,  geometry,  and  music.  It  is 
not  certain  that  Luther  studied  all  these  branches 
thoroughly.  It  is  probable  that  he  did  not.  But  it 
seems  certain  that  he  gave  much  attention  to  litera- 
ture and  that  he  was  fond  of  linguistic  studies. 

He  thoujTfht  well  of  the  school  at  Eisenach,  and 
spoke  of  it  in  high  terms  of  praise  in  his  after  years. 
He  had  all  of  a  true  man's  attachment  for  the  places 
where  he  had  attended  school,  and  he  remembered 
his  associates  with  loyal  affection,  and  never  forgot 
those  who  befriended  him  in  the  days  of  his  poverty 


Luther's  Ediicat'uni.  31 

and  struggle.  When,  years  after  this,  he  was  one  cjf 
the  professors  at  the  University  of  Wittenberg,  he  re- 
joiced to  take  into  his  own  home  a  son  of  the  go(Kl 
Ursula  Cotta,  who  had  been  his  friend  in  Ihc  time  of 
his  need  at  Eisenach. 

Luther  was  eager  for  knowledge,  and  what  ho  had 
acquired  at  Eisenach  only  served  to  stimulate  his 
thirst.  He  longed  to  go  to  the  University  at  Erfurt, 
the  greatest  center  of  learning  in  Germany  at  that 
time.  By  this  time  his  father  had  prospered  in  busi- 
ness sufficiently  to  furnish  the  necessary  means  to 
gratify  this  ambition.  Hans  Luther  about  this  time 
became  one  of  the  town  council  of  Mans f eld,  and  had 
taken  the  rank  of  a  burgher.  It  had  been  the  ambi- 
tion of  his  life  that  his  son  should  be  a  lawyer.  If 
Hans  Luther  could  have  foreseen  what  this  going  to 
Erfurt  would  mean,  he  would  most  likely  have  put  his 
son  to  work  in  one  of  his  iron  furnaces  and  not  put 
him  in  the  university.  But  there  was  a  Guide  that 
was  leading  father  and  son  by  a  way  they  knew  not, 
and  veiling  from  them  a  future  of  which,  if  they  had 
caught  a  glimpse,  they  would  have  drawn  back  from 
in  dismay.  John  Luther  wanted  his  son  to  be  a  law- 
yer. The  son  was  not  averse  to  his  father's  ambition. 
The  Lord  willed  that  Martin  should  be  a  leader  of 
his  people  into  a  broader  place,  and  it  was  a  blessing 
to  father  and  son  that  the  Lord  had  his  way  in  the 
matter.    God's  way  is  always  best. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Luther  at  the  University. 

The  old  city  of  Erfurt,  in  Prussian  Saxony,  will  al- 
ways be  a  place  of  interest  to  Protestants  and  to  every 
student  of  history.  Associated  with  it  are  some  of 
the  epochs  in  the  life  of  Martin  Luther.  In  this  re- 
spect it  is  equaled  only  by  Wittenberg  itself.  The  town 
was  a  thousand  years  old  when  young  Martin  Luther 
came  hither,  in  his  nineteenth  year,  to  enter  the  uni- 
versity. The  university  itself  was  nearly  two  hun- 
dred years  old  when  the  young  son  of  Hans  Luther 
became  one  of  its  many  students,  and  it  enjoyed  a 
prestige  possessed  by  no  other  institution  of  learning 
in  all  Germany.  The  old  city  had  its  most  prosperous 
days  during  the  Middle  Ages,  when  it  was  the  capital 
of  ancient  Thuringia  and  when  it  was  strongly  forti- 
fied. The  cathedral  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  finest  spec- 
imens of  Gothic  architecture  in  all  Germany.  The  old 
university  buildings  are  still  standing,  but  the  insti- 
tution itself  closed  the  last  chapter  of  its  history  in 
i8i6.  Of  its  ancient  monastic  establishments,  only 
the  nunnery  of  St.  Ursula  remains.  The  monastery 
of  St.  Augustine,  where  Martin  Luther  spent  some  of 
the  unhappiest  but  most  useful  years  of  his  life,  has 
been  an  orphanage  for  nearly  a  hundred  years.  The 
cell  where  Martin  Luther  lived  his  hermit  life,  where 
he  prayed  and  struggled  and  tormented  himself  after 
the  manner  of  honest  eremites,  and  where  he  caught 

(32) 


Luther  at  tJic  University.  33 

the  first  glimpses  of  the  light  that  he  was  afterwards 
to  carry  to  others,  was  kept  intact  for  many  years. 
But  in  1872  it  w^as  destroyed  by  hre.  Erfurt  is  no 
longer  a  city  strongly  fortified  and  the  center  of 
learning  as  in  other  days,  but  the  prosperity  that  has 
come  to  it  of  late  years  is  the  prosperity  of  commerce 
and  trade  and  manufactures. 

Young  Martin  entered  the  university  at  Erfurt  with 
one  fact  impressed  upon  him,  the  full  significance  of 
which  came  to  him  with  increasing  emphasis  as  the 
years  transformed  him  from  a  boy  into  a  man.  "My 
dear  father,"  he  said,  ''maintained  me  there  with  loyal 
affection,  and  by  his  labor  and  the  sweat  of  his  brow 
enabled  me  to  go  there."  This  consciousness  was 
worth  more  to  him  in  after  years  than  many  things 
he  learned  at  the  old  university.  But  it  added  grief 
to  the  sacrifice  he  made  when  he  decided  to  turn  aside 
from  the  course  his  father  had  marked  out  for  him 
to  enter  the  monastic  life. 

With  a  nature  that  was  at  once  ardent  and  perse- 
vering, and  with  a  thirsting  after  knowledge  which 
was  at  this  time  the  ruling  passion  of  his  life,  it  was 
with  all  the  joy  of  an  intense,  ardently  aspiring  youth 
that  he  left  his  parents  and  the  other  members  of  his 
family  and  journeyed  to  the  seat  of  the  university 
where  he  was  to  take  his  degrees,  and  from  which  he 
was  to  come  forth  fully  equipped  for  the  life  work 
for  which  his  "dear  father,"  as  he  always  called  him, 
had  denied  himself  and  the  other  members  of  the 
household. 

At  Erfurt  Luther  took  up  a  full  course  of  study.    He 

3 


34  ^  -^^/^  of  Martin  Luther. 

gave  attention  to  all  the  several  branches  of  philos- 
ophy, as  it  was  called.  The  term,  as  scholars  used  it 
then,  was  encyclopedic.  It  embraced  about  all  that 
men  knew  or  sought  to  know — the  ancient  languages, 
mathematics,  metaphysics,  natural  science,  and  what 
not.  History,  political  economy,  and  allied  studies, 
seem  not  to  have  had  a  separate  place  in  the  curricula 
of  those  old  schools.  The  learning  of  the  early  part  of 
the  sixteenth  century  was  not  yet  out  of  its  swaddling 
clothes.  It  was  the  poor,  half-starved  offspring  of  an 
unwilling  mother,  who  did  not  love  it  and  yet  was 
afraid  to  allow  it  to  use  its  little  legs  for  walking. 
The  Arabs  had  brought  figures  to  Europe,  and  had 
left  the  name  and  the  science  of  algebra  with  the 
Western  nations.  But  mathematics  still  waited  for 
the  principia  of  Newton.  One  of  the  grammars  that 
Luther  studied  was  written  by  an  author  who  lived  a 
thousand  years  before.  The  jealousy  and  controversy 
between  the  Eastern  and  Western  branches  of  the 
Church  and  the  Eastern  and  Western  divisions  of  the 
ancient  Roman  Empire  had  made  Greek  almost  a  for- 
bidden language  in  the  Romish  Church,  and  only  of 
recent  years  was  it  coming  into  knowledge  again.  Er- 
furt, the  year  after  Luther  entered  the  tmiversity,  led 
the  whole  world  in  the  publication  of  the  first  book 
printed  in  Greek  characters.  Astronomy  harked  back 
a  thousand  years  and  more  to  Ptolemy  as  its  teacher. 
Columbus  and  other  voyagers  had  settled  the  faci  that 
the  earth  was  round,  but  Copernicus,  Tycho  Brahe, 
and  Galileo  had  not  yet  risen  to  teach  men  the  near-by 
and    far-away   secrets   of   the   night   season.     Luther 


Liithcr  at  tlic  University.  ^c^ 

himself  was  taught  to  bchevc  that  the  earth  was  the 
center  of  all  the  systems,  and  that  sun,  moon,  and 
stars  revolved  around  it.  But  later  in  life  he  learned 
something  of  the  better  way  of  accounting  for  the 
movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  but  was  not  quite 
willing  to  accept  the  newer  knowledge.  Chemistry 
was  little  more  than  the  fragmentary  facts  the  al- 
chemists had  gathered  in  their  search  for  a  method  to 
turn  the  baser  metals  into  gold. 

The  metaphysics  taught  at  Erfurt,  and  to  the  study 
of  which  Luther  gave  himself  with  all  the  earnestness 
of  a  man  who  could  never  do  anything  by  halves,  was 
a  mass  of  abstruse  abstractions.  It  was  the  dav  of 
controversy  between  Realist  and  Nominalist.  Men 
argued  themselves  into  much  intellectual  and  bodily 
warmth  over  the  question  of  objects  and  qualities — 
whether  an  object  really  had  qualities,  or  whether 
qualities  were  only  abstract  ideas  and  existed  in  llic 
object  when  the  mind  of  the  observer  put  them  there. 
Over  this  question  (and  if  it  has  not  been  fairly 
stated,  its  abstruse  absurdity  must  be  the  apology  for 
the  lack  of  a  better  statement)  the  Scholastics  wran- 
gled with  all  the  ardor  of  men  who  certainly  might 
have  had  a  better  employment,  and  whose  very  con- 
troversies were  but  a  part  of  that  monasticism  in 
thought  that  scholars  had  borrowed  from  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Church.  Metaphysicians  followed  Aris- 
totle, but  perverted,  after  the  manner  of  the  age,  the 
teachings  of  the  old  Greek  philosopher.  Martin  Lu- 
ther himself  conceived  a  great  horror  of  this  old 
rival  of  Plato,  but  why  it  is  not  quite  easy  to  explain. 


36  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

"If  Aristotle  had  not  been  a  man,"  said  Luther  with 
characteristic  directness,  "he  would  have  been  the 
devil."  At  most,  the  philosophy  of  the  times  was 
much  like  the  metaphysics  of  all  times;  it  was  like 
the  vision  of  the  poor  blind  man  of  Bethsaida  who, 
after  one  touch  of  the  Saviour's  hand,  saw  men  as 
trees  walking.  Certainly  Luther  was  profited  by  all 
this  study,  but  some  of  his  profiting  was  the  profiting 
of  his  mind  in  the  strength  which  it  received  from  all 
this  wrestling  with  nominalism  and  realism.  And  his 
study  of  logic  put  into  his  hands  a  weapon  which  he 
used  with  mighty  power  in  his  controversy  with  the 
representatives  of  the  pope  in  after  days. 

Learning  was  expanding  under  the  broadening  day. 
The  light  of  the  morning  was  touching  the  mountain 
tops.  Later  it  would  descend  into  the  valleys.  Some 
stood  and  watched  the  receding  night,  and  mourned 
at  its  going.  Others  faced  the  rising  sun,  and  were 
glad  at  his  coming.  These  were  the  last  days  of  the 
Scholastics  and  the  first  times  of  the  Humanists.  The 
one  were  the  old  fogies  of  the  day ;  the  other  were 
the  progressives.  To  the  one  there  could  be  no  new 
truth ;  to  the  other  there  could  be  no  old  truth.  The 
former  were  conservative;  the  latter  were  destructive. 
But  neither  were  truly  constructive.  The  Scholastic 
believed  that  little  was  to  be  discovered,  and  nothing 
that  was  worth  while;  the  Humanist  believed  that  lit- 
tle was  worth  while  except  what  he  had  discovered 
or  expected  to  discover.  And  since  the  greatest  intel- 
lectual discovery  of  the  times  was  the  learning  of 
ancient  Greece  and  Rome,  he  gloried  in  this.    Scholas- 


Luther  at  the  University.  37 

ticism  could  not  withstand  the  onslaughts  of  this  old- 
new  learning,  nor  could  the  faith  that  had  stood  for 
it;  and  so  men  were  not  only  learning  classic  Latin 
and  the  Greek  of  ancient  Athens,  hut  likewise  the  no- 
faith  which  cast  ofif  the  old  beliefs  as  unworthy  tlie 
respect  of  men  of  scholarship  and  intelligence.  This 
state  of  mind  led  to  the  most  arrant  hypocrisy.  The 
old  school  of  thought  was  about  ready  to  be  laid  away 
in  its  grave.  Popes,  cardinals,  and  prelates  had  open- 
ly thrown  it  aside.  And  into  the  rubbish  lieap  of 
Scholasticism  they  threw  also  their  faith  in  much  that 
the  Church  had  taught.  But  pope,  prelate,  and  car- 
dinal were  more  than  willing  that  the  common  herd 
of  the  Church  should  accept  all  its  superstitions  with 
greedy  incredulity.  A  duped  laity  is  always  an  easy 
prey  for  a  venal  priesthood. 

Young  Luther  studied  the  new  learning  with  ardent 
devotion.  But  he  escaped  the  skeptical  tendencies  of 
this  broader  scholarship.  The  faith  that  had  been 
taught  him  at  his  mother's  knee  was  too  strong  to  be 
thus  shaken.  He  escaped  another  tendency  of  the 
new  learning.  Men  who  gloried  in  Cicero  and  Vergil 
and  the  rest  came  to  despise  their  ignorant  contempo- 
raries. In  their  pedantic  narrowness  they  gave  so 
much  attention  to  Latin  that  they  could  write  that 
ancient  tongue,  if  not  speak  it,  better  than  they  could 
their  native  German.  Charles  Spurgeon  said  that  the 
scholars  who  gave  the  English-speaking  world  the 
Revised  Version  of  the  New  Testament,  published  in 
1881.  understood  Greek  better  than  they  did  English, 
and  the  scholarshi]-)  nf  more  than  one  age  has  been 


38  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

open  to  a  similar  criticism.  But  Martin  Luther  never 
ceased  to  be  one  of  the  common  people.  He  never 
concealed  the  fact,  but  prided  in  it,  that  his  father  was 
a  peasant.  He  had  learning,  but  not  the  sort  that 
puffeth  up;  and  with  that  learning  he  likewise  had 
the  charity  that  edifieth. 

At  Erfurt  Luther  was  brought  under  the  tuition  of 
some  of  the  great  men  of  his  times.  Among  these 
was  one  Jodocus  Trutvetter,  an  honest,  learned,  ad- 
herent of  modified  Scholasticism.  Some  of  his  old 
teacher's  treatises  on  metaphysics  survive  to  this  day, 
and  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  time  has  not  added  fresh- 
ness to  their  original  dryness.  Another  one  of  his 
teachers  was  Bartholomew  Arnoldi,  whose  only  dis- 
tinction is  due  to  the  fact  that  Martin  Luther  once  sat 
at  his  feet. 

The  Germans  are  distinctively  a  social  people.  At 
home  and  abroad,  in  the  Fatherland  or  in  the  far-away 
lands  to  which  many  of  them  have  gone,  they  preserve 
this  characteristic.  A  true  German  always  loves  his 
home,  his  family,  and  his  friends.  This  social  trait 
has  often  led  him  into  more  conviviality  than  was 
quite  temperate,  but  in  his  love  of  beer  and  wine  and 
his  pipe  there  is  more  of  social  gratification  than  the 
desire  for  stimulants.  Who  that  has  been  fortunate 
enough  to  have  among  his  friends  a  native  of  the 
land  of  Luther,  can  ever  forget  the  cheery  voice,  the 
broad  smile,  the  hearty  laugh,  the  ready  sympathy, 
and  the  warm  hand  clasp  of  his  German  friend?  Gen- 
erous and  warm-hearted,  the  race,  through  all  the 
long  centuries  of  its  dwelling  in  the  north,  has  not 


Luther  at  tJie  University.  39 

taken  Its  nature  from  the  snows  and  ice  of  its  loni:^ 
winter,  but  has  caught  the  sunshine  of  its  shorter 
summers  and  turned  it  into  social  and  genial  warmth. 
And  Martin  Luther  was  a  true  German.  He  hatl  in 
full  measure  the  social  nature  of  his  people.  His  stu- 
dent life  at  Erfurt  had  its  social  side.  His  voice,  which 
had  won  for  him  the  friendship  of  Frau  Cotta,  made 
him  the  welcome  companion  of  many  friends  and  a 
welcome  guest  in  more  than  one  home.  Some  of  his 
college  friends  were  among  the  most  distinguished 
men  In  Germany  in  the  stirring  times  that  were  soon 
to  come  to  Saxony  and  the  neighboring  States.  Some 
of  these  were  his  helpers  in  the  great  Reformation ; 
others  were  his  bitter  opponents.  But  none  who 
knew  him  intimately  at  Erfurt,  friend  or  foe,  ever 
charged  him  with  intemperance  or  dissolute  habits 
during  his  college  days.  As  has  been  already  said,  his 
was  a  clean  youth. 

It  was  likewise  a  religious  youth.  He  used  to  say 
that  prayer  was  the  best  part  of  study.  He  was  a 
dutiful  son  of  the  Church.  He  sought  heart  comfort 
at  her  altars,  and  gladly  gave  to  her  the  loyalty  of 
his  honest  nature.  If  he  had  loved  the  Church  less 
in  these  early  years,  he  would  not  have  been  the  great 
reformer  in  his  after  days.  Always  intensive,  always 
positive,  and  believing  the  teachings  of  the  Church 
with  a  faith  which  asked  no  questions  except  such  as 
sought  instruction,  one  is  not  surprised  that  his  zeal 
became  little  less  than  fanaticism.  And  in  this  con- 
nection it  may  be  stated,  without  anticij^atiiig  what 
took  place  later,  that  he  never  ceased  to  honor  the 


40  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

Church.  He  did  not  forget  that  at  her  altars  he  had 
been  baptized,  and  that  from  her  he  had  received 
much  instruction.  His  war  was  not  so  much  upon 
the  Romish  Church  as  upon  the  papacy,  its  tyrannies, 
its  usurpations,  and  its  perversion  and  prostitution  of 
the  faith  of  loyal,  honest  men  for  its  own  sordid  ends. 
Honest  men,  who  are  willing  to  know  the  truth  and 
ready  to  accept  it  when  they  know  it,  whose  moral  per- 
ceptions have  not  been  vitiated  by  lives  of  sin,  have 
always  felt  the  influences  of  the  divine  Spirit.  What 
these  divine  impulses  lead  to  is  determined,  of  course, 
by  the  knowledge  of  the  individual,  his  training,  and 
his  consequent  sense  of  duty;  but  we  may  be  assured 
that  no  honest  and  earnest  soul  ever  yet  went  fatally 
and  finally  astray. 

Martin  Luther,  like  Saul  of  Tarsus,  was  a  chosien 
vessel  unto  the  Lord.  From  his  youth  up,  the  mark 
of  heaven  was  upon  him.  Had  he  turned  aside  in  his 
young  manhood  into  paths  of  sin,  open  and  inviting, 
then  as  now,  on  every  side,  and  had  he  at  any  time 
been  less  obedient  to  the  heavenly  vision,  he  would 
have  been  less  sensitive  to  the  divine  leading  that  was 
guiding  his  often  trembling  but  always  honest  foot- 
step along  a  way  that  he  would  never  have  taken 
at  his  own  choosing.  Hearing  the  divine  voice  from 
afar,  he  sometimes  missed  his  way,  but  in  all  his  wan- 
derings he  was  seeking  to  do  his  Master's  bidding. 
The  Spirit  does  not  throw  a  flash  light  along  the  whole 
pathway  of  life.  Such  light  would  be  too  bright  for 
human  eyes.  Its  light  is  like  the  shining  of  a  lamp, 
not  strong  nor  seen  from  afar,  yet  affording  the  light 


Liitlier  at  tJic  U)iiz'crsit\.  41 

we  need  as  we  press  forward  in  tlie  narrow  way  of 
duty. 

Some  of  the  chroniclers  mention  various  traditions 
connected  with  Luther's  stay  at  the  university.  One 
of  these  is  to  the  effect  that  one  morning-  lie  heard  that 
a  special  friend  of  his,  a  young-  man  named  Alexis, 
had  been  assassinated.  Luther  hurried  to  the  spot 
where  the  victim  lay  dead,  and  as  he  looked  upon  the 
face  of  his  friend  a  deep  horror  of  death  came  upon 
his  own  soul  and  a  deep  conviction  of  his  own  un- 
readiness for  death.  At  another  time  his  constant 
application  to  study  brought  on  a  severe  attack  of  ill- 
ness. His  condition  alarmed  his  friends,  and  alarmed 
Luther  more.  When  he  was  at  his  worst  a  good  man 
came  to  him  and  said:  "Be  of  good  cheer;  God  will 
not  suffer  you  to  die  now,  but  will  raise  you  u])  to 
comfort  many  souls."  One  of  Luther's  intimate 
friends  says  that  this  assurance  and  prediction  greatly 
affected  Luther,  and  had  no  small  influence  in  shaping 
his  after  course. 

One  event  occurred  at  Erfurt  which  certainly  ex- 
erted a  determining  influence  over  his  whole  life.  He 
was  a  g-reat  lover  of  books,  and  spent  much  time  in 
the  library.  One  day,  while  looking  through  some 
shelves  in  a  dark  room,  he  chanced  to  come  upon  a 
copy  of  the  Bible.  This  was  the  Latin  Vulgate.  He 
took  it  down  from  its  place  with  much  curiosity,  and 
when  he  looked  into  it  he  was  filled  with  wonder.  He 
had  never  seen  a  Bible  before.  All  he  knew  of  the 
Bible  was  what  he  had  heard  in  the  churches.  He  flid 
not  know  that  there  was  anv  more  of  the  word  of 


42  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

God  than  the  extracts  which  he  had  heard  from  the 
lips  of  priests.  The  volume  was  at  once  a  discovery 
and  a  revelation  to  him.  If  this  young  student,  now 
twenty  years  old,  knew  nothing  of  the  Bible  except 
what  he  had  heard  read  in  Latin  in  the  churches,  what 
immeasurable  ignorance  must  there  have  been  among 
the  tens  of  thousands  of  his  contemporaries  who  did 
not  know  Latin !  Opening  the  book  at  random,  his 
eye  fell  first  upon  the  story  of  Samuel:  the  prayer  of 
Hannah,  her  consecration  of  her  young  son  to  the 
service  of  the  tabernacle,  the  call  of  the  child  to  the 
prophetic  office,  and  all  the  several  events  in  a  history 
to  which  men  and  women  have  turned  again  and  again 
with  never-failing  interest.  The  young  student  was 
fascinated.  He  took  up  the  book  at  every  opportunity. 
We  may  only  conjecture  as  to  what  he  understood  of 
what  he  read,  and  how  far  he  went  at  this  time  in  the 
formation  of  those  convictions  of  truth  which  con- 
trolled him  in  his  course  as  a  leader  of  men  into  a 
better  light.  One  thing  is  certain — he  had  discovered 
that  there  zuas  a  Bible! 

With  this  discovery  his  life  could  never  be  the  same. 
A  blind  man,  once  seeing,  can  never  be  content  to  be 
blind  again.  One  song  of  the  mocking  bird  bursting 
upon  the  ears  of  a  deaf  man  would  make  deafness  a 
torture  forever  afterwards.  One  hour  with  the  Bible 
found  in  the  library  at  Erfurt  made  Martin  Luther 
potentially  the  Protestant  and  the  reformer.  He  was 
earnestly  seeking  and  slowly  finding  the  way  of  life 
more  perfectly.    As  he  found  it  he  led  others  into  it. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Luther  Becomes  a  Monk. 

The  sixteenth  century  had  reached  its  fifth  year. 
It  was  to  write  more  history  and  make  more  than  had 
ten  previous  centuries.  It  was  the  century  of  motion 
and  commotion,  of  reformation  and  revohition,  of 
transition  and  transformation,  of  battle  and  blood, 
when  the  minions  of  the  papacy  would  make  martyrs 
of  the  best  men  in  the  Church,  of  cruel  despotism 
and  the  heartless  Inquisition,  of  desperate  and  con- 
scienceless effort  on  the  part  of  the  popes  to  retain  a 
power  that  was  never  justly  theirs.  All  the  nations 
of  Western  Europe  would  feel  the  shock  that  was 
coming,  and  the  echoes  of  the  mighty  impact  would 
sound  throughout  the  earth  and  through  all  the  suc- 
ceeding ages.  It  was  the  age  of  Luther  and  Zwingli, 
of  Knox  and  Calvin,  of  Cranmer  and  the  brave  but 
ill-starred  reformers  of  France  and  Spain.  It  was  a 
century  of  upheaval.  The  very  movements  of  men 
were  like  the  downrush  of  an  avalanche,  the  inrush 
of  a  tidal  wave  of  the  ocean,  and  the  outburst  of  a 
volcano.  It  was  a  time  of  destruction  and  reconstruc- 
tion. The  century  found  the  pope  of  Rome  in  su- 
preme sway  over  the  consciences  of  men;  it  left  him 
forever  despoiled  of  power  in  the  leading  nations  of 
Europe,  and  of  much  of  the  temporal  power  and  pos- 
sessions that  the  Roman  See  had  acquired  through 
centuries  of  sacrilegious  traffic  in   the  souls  of  men. 

(43) 


44  ^  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

The  cup  of  Rome's  iniquity  was  almost  full,  and  God 
was  raising  up  the  men  who  would  snatch  that  cup 
from  her  polluted  hands  and  dash  it  to  pieces. 

It  was  the  summer  of  1505.  Martin  Luther  had 
completed  his  regular  course  of  studies  at  the  uni- 
versity. He  had  taken  his  degrees,  first  as  bachelor 
and  then  as  master.  This  last  was  equivalent  to  Doc- 
tor of  Philosophy.  There  was  much  pomp  in  con- 
nection with  the  last-named  degree.  A  torchlight  pro- 
cession called  on  the  young  doctor  and  showered  con- 
gratulations and  tokens  of  good  will  upon  him.  His 
brilliancy  and  attainments  had  made  him  the  wonder 
and  admiration  of  the  faculty  and  student  body.  As 
was  expected  of  all  who  took  this  degree,  he  had  de- 
livered some  lectures  before  the  classes,  his  special 
theme  being  the  natural  sciences.  He  would  continue 
at  the  university  and  study  law,  as  his  father  wished. 
Meanwhile,  however,  he  took  advantage  of  the  sum- 
mer holidays  to  visit  his  parents  at  Mansfeld.  We 
may  be  sure  that  those  long  June  days,  while  their 
son  was  at  home,  were  full  of  proud  contentment  to 
Hans  Luther  and  the  good  Margaret.  They  had  toiled 
and  denied  themselves  that  this  their  firstborn  might 
receive  what  was  much  rarer  then  than  now — a  col- 
lege education.  And  now  their  ambition  was,  at  least 
in  part,  realized.  Their  son  was  a  Master  of  Philoso- 
phy. He  would  become  a  great  lawyer  in  the  course 
of  time;  and  their  cup  of  joy  was  full.  The  German 
wife  and  mother  looks  well  to  her  household,  and  of 
course  the  good  Margaret  did  not  let  her  son  return 
to  Erfurt  without  going  carefully  over  his  wardrobe 


Luther  Becomes  a  Monk. 


45 


and  mending  and  darning-  and  stitching  wherever  sucli 
attention  was  needed  by  the  mother's  fingers.  Little 
did  she  dream  that  when  the  son  went  away  from 
home  this  time  it  would  be  many  a  long,  wear\'  day 
before  he  entered  that  home  again. 

We  do  not  know  all  that  passed  between  Martin 
and  his  father  during  this  summer  visit.  It  is  cer- 
tain, however,  that  the  young  man  left  home  without 
expressing  any  purpose  other  than  to  prepare  for  the 
practice  of  law.  Perhaps  Martin  did  not  know  his 
own  mind  fully.  He  only  knew  that  he  was  unhap()v. 
The  religious  child  and  the  religious  youth  was  grown 
into  a  more  religious  man.  Deep  questions  were  stir- 
ring his  honest  soul.  The  Spirit  was  leading,  but  his 
untrained  though  sensitive  and  responsive  conscience 
did  not  know  whither  he  was  being  led.  The  one  vital 
question,  "Am  I  right  with  God?"  was  ever  before 
him.  And  his  soul  had  but  one  answer:  **No!"  The 
thought  of  death  was  a  constant  terror  to  him.  It 
was  the  skeleton  head  that  mocked  him  at  every  feast, 
haunted  him  in  his  waking  hours,  and  came  to  him 
like  a  specter  in  his  dreams.  God  was  not  to  him 
the  abstraction  of  the  mystics  nor  the  God  of  love 
revealed  in  the  Bible;  he  was  to  this  honest  young 
man  what  the  Church  of  Rome  had  taught  him  to  be- 
lieve— a  being  of  terrible  and  inexorable  justice.  The 
thought  of  Jesus  and  the  incarnation  gave  him  no 
comfort.  Was  he  not  taught  by  the  same  Church  that 
Jesus  was  an  inflexible  Judge  whose  wrath  nnist  be 
appeased  through  the  intercession  of  saints,  and  who 
could  be  approached  only  through   the  offices  of  the 


46  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

Church?  Was  not  the  pope  his  vicegerent,  and  every 
priest  a  creature  and  agent  of  the  pope,  and  therefore 
of  Christ  himself?  At  times,  in  his  despair,  he  was 
ready  almost  to  curse  God  and  die.  This  hopelessness 
was  not  the  rebellion  of  a  soul  unwilling  to  give  up  its 
sins ;  it  was  the  despair  of  a  soul  willing  but  im- 
properly taught,  seeking  in  vain  to  find  the  Saviour. 
The  Spirit  still,  through  all  these  weary,  heart-break- 
ing days  and  nights,  was  guiding  this  true  seeker  after 
God.  Israel  did  not  go  directly  from  Egypt  to  Ca- 
naan, but  journeyed  by  way  of  the  Red  Sea,  Mount 
Sinai,  and  the  wilderness.  This  was  the  better  way  for 
God's  ancient  people.  Luther  did  not  pass  at  once 
from  the  depths  of  penitence  into  the  broad  and  fully 
comprehended  light  of  conscious  pardon.  It  was  in- 
evitable that  he  should  go  by  way  of  the  monastery 
and  the  priesthood  into  the  full  understanding  of  sav- 
ing truth  and  its  gracious  realization  in  his  soul.  He 
was  to  be  a  soul  leader,  and  soul  leaders  have  always 
been  equipped  for  their  work  in  the  school  of  suffering. 
Luther  hungered  and  thirsted  after  righteousness. 
Once  he  had  longed  for  learning;  now  he  longed  for 
holiness.  Once  his  ambition  had  been  to  acquire  dis- 
tinction as  a  scholar  and  lawyer;  now  he  aspired  only 
to  know  God.  He  asked  bread  of  the  Church ;  it  gave 
him  a  stone. 

According  to  the  teachings  of  the  Romish  Church, 
the  monastic  life  is  the  sum  of  all  righteousness.  Its 
saints  are  not  men  and  women  who  toil  and  suffer  and 
live  the  common  lot  of  mortals ;  they  are  always  monks 
or  nuns  or  priests  or,  mayhap,  some  man  or  woman 


Luther  Becomes  a  Monk.  47 

who  has  laid  all  at  the  foot  of  tho  pope  for  the  en- 
richment of  a  hierarchy  that  has  always  been  as  jj^recdy 
as  the  daughters  of  the  horse  looch.  The  way  into 
the  kingdom,  according  to  its  teachings,  leads  through 
masses  and  monasteries,  the  righteousness  of  others, 
whose  works  of  supererogation  constitute  the  stock 
in  trade  of  the  Church  and  may  be  obtained  of  tlie 
Church  for  a  consideration  or  through  the  fires  of 
purgatory,  over  both  gates  of  which  the  Church 
stands  guard.  The  history  of  the  Catholic  Church  in 
all  the  countries  and  times  where  and  when  it  has 
had  undisputed  control  over  the  religious  convictions 
of  men  is  a  record  of  facts  clearly  issuing  from  these 
blasphemous  assumptions.  Since  the  business  man, 
the  housewife,  and  the  ordinary  mortal  cannot  be 
saints,  and  since  the  priest  has  at  his  disposal  all  the 
righteousness  one  may  need,  why  should  one  worry  to 
be  virtuous  or  honest  or  true?  A  lack  of  any  of  the 
essential  elements  of  Christian  character  can  be  sup- 
plied from  the  ecclesiastical  market.  And,  apparent- 
ly, the  supply  never  falls  short  of  the  demand.  One 
might  suppose  that  this  second-hand  righteousness, 
like  second-hand  clothes,  might  be  a  little  musty  by 
reason  of  age;  but  since  it  is  acceptable  to  the  Giurch, 
why  should  the  fastidious  receiver  have  any  suspicion 
of  its  quality,  not  to  speak  of  its  supposed  freedom 
from  germs? 

Luther's  faith  at  this  time  was  a  true  transcript  of 
the  teachings  of  the  Church.  Full  of  superstition  as 
it  was,  it  was  thus  because  the  faith  of  the  Church 
was  full  of  superstition.     One  is  not  surprised  that  he 


48  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

was  superstitious ;  the  surprise  is  that  he  was  not  more 
superstitious.  With  a  faith  that  was  realistic,  with  a 
conscience  that  brooked  no  compromise,  with  an 
imagination  that  was  vivid  and  which  invested  his 
thoughts  and  convictions  with  all  the  verisimilitude  of 
life,  and  with  a  nature  that  never  faltered  in  the  path 
of  deliberate  purpose,  it  was  altogether  in  harmony 
with  the  logic  of  his  character  and  the  influence  the 
Church  had  over  him  that  he  should  turn  aside  from 
the  law  to  enter  a  monastery. 

Several  incidents  in  his  life  at  this  time  brought 
his  convictions  to  a  focus.  Once,  at  Easter,  he  had 
gone  home  for  a  visit  to  his  parents  during  the  holi- 
days. While  en  route  the  little  rapier  which  he  car- 
ried, and  which  all  travelers  carried  in  those  days,  ac- 
cidentally fell  out  of  its  case  and  severed  a  vein  in  one 
of  his  limbs.  While  his  companion  went  for  medical 
assistance  he  lay  on  the  ground  with  the  wound  tem- 
porarily bound  up,  realizing  the  while  that  his  life 
was  in  grave  peril.  This  experience  augmented  the 
fear  of  death  we  have  already  spoken  of  and  stirred 
his  never-sleeping  conscience  to  tormenting  activity. 

But  another  experience  this  summer  finally  deter- 
mined the  question  as  to  how  he  should  find  the  serv- 
ice of  his  Lord.  He  was  returning  from  the  visit  to 
his  parents  already  referred  to.  It  was  the  second  day 
of  July,  the  traditional  anniversary  of  the  visitation 
of  the  Virgin  Mary.  At  the  little  village  of  Stottern- 
heim  he  was  overtaken  by  a  fearful  thunderstorin. 
These  phenomena,  terrible  always  even  to  those  who 
know  something  of  electricity,  were  more  terrible  to 


Luther  Becomes  a  Monk.  ^cj 

men  in  the  superstitious  age  of  Martin  Lutlicr.  The 
flashing  lightning  and  peaHng  thunder  filled  him  with 
that  awe  one  feels  when  he  realizes  that  at  any  mo- 
ment he  may  be  stricken  down  to  death.  Suddenly 
a  blinding  flash  of  lightning  leaped  from  the  bosom  of 
the  cloud  and  buried  itself  in  the  ground  at  his  side. 
He  was  terror-stricken.  Trembling  from  head  to  foot, 
he  prostrated  himself  upon  his  knees  and  cried  out: 
"Help,  holy  Anne,  beloved  saint !    I  will  be  a  monk !" 

A  man's  real  faith  comes  out  in  moments  like  this. 
This  prayer  and  this  vow  reveal  the  inmost  soul  of 
Martin  Luther  at  this  time.  He  does  not  pray  to  Je- 
sus. The  Church  has  taught  him  to  believe  that  Jesus 
is  not  a  helper  and  a  Saviour,  but  an  awful  Jutlge. 
His  only  hope  is  in  the  intercession  of  some  saint  in 
the  far-away  heavens,  who  might  have  influence  with 
this  fearful  Judge.  And  he  vows  to  be  a  monk  be- 
cause the  Church  has  taught  him  that  that  is  the  only 
way  to  sainthood  and  salvation.  It  was  a  rash  vow, 
a  superstitious  vow,  and  if  he  had  only  known  better, 
the  prayer  itself  would  have  been  sacrilege. 

The  storm  passed,  the  sun  came  out  once  more,  and 
the  young  man  went  on  his  way  to  Erfurt,  which  was 
not  far  away.  When  he  became  calm  again,  he  re- 
gretted his  hasty  promise  to  be  a  monk.  But  he  was 
too  conscientious  and  too  superstitious  to  draw  back. 
His  vow  had  been  made  to  Anne,  his  patron  saint.  I  f 
he  should  break  faith  wdth  her,  he  could  nevermore 
invoke  her  help.  He  must  be  a  monk !  Such  was  the 
ill  faith  of  this  ill-trained  son  of  the  Church !  But  the 
Lord  Christ  had  better  things  for  this  honest  man  to 

4 


50  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

do  than  the  begging  of  alms  for  men  who  could  earn 
an  honest  living  by  their  own  labor,  and  the  fasting 
and  self-torture  of  a  life  that  was  at  once  unearthly 
and  unheavenly.  For  a  time  he  let  his  faithful  serv- 
ant walk  in  darkness,  but  guided  him  unerringly  the 
while.  For  centuries  before  this  honest  men  had  spent 
their  lives  in  monasteries,  believing  that  thus  they  did 
God  service,  but  Martin  Luther  could  not  thus  serve 
God  in  the  sixteenth  century.  No  bushel  in  all  Ger- 
many, nor  in  all  the  world,  could  hide  a  candle  like 
this  throughout  a  lifetime. 

But  the  time  of  Luther's  deliverance  was  not  yet. 
The  vow  so  hastily  made  was  deliberately  ratified.  He 
thought  of  all  that  was  involved  in  the  steps — the  dis- 
appointment of  his  father,  the  sacrifice  of  his  life  am- 
bition, the  popular  contempt  for  monks,  the  hard, 
heartless  life  of  the  monastery,  the  separation  from 
friends,  the  poverty  and  beggary  of  the  monastic 
orders;  in  a  word,  the  giving  up  of  all  that  is  in 
the  world,  not  merely  the  bad,  but  the  good  as  well. 
But  why  hesitate  because  of  these  things?  Had  not 
God  called  him?  Had  he  not  vowed  to  St.  Anne? 
Had  he  not  escaped  death  in  the  storm  that  day  be- 
cause he  had  appealed  to  her  and  promised  in  the 
hour  of  danger  to  be  a  monk?  H  his  faith  was  re- 
vealed in  the  hour  of  his  anguish  by  his  prayer  and 
his  vow,  his  integrity  and  steadfastness  were  evi- 
denced by  his  after  course.  With  more  light  his 
choice  would  have  been  different.  But  he  did  not  have 
the  light,  hence  he  kept  faith  with  himself. 

Martin  Luther  did  not  delay  long.     Delay  was  not 


Luther  Becomes  a  Monk.  51 

in  his  nature.  In  less  than  two  months  the  monastery 
of  the  St.  Augustine  order  at  Erfurt  had  closed  its 
gates  upon  him.  He  did  not  take  time  to  consult  his 
parents.  He  did  not  take  his  most  intimate  friends 
into  his  counsel.  It  was  tlie  call  of  God,  and  hiiiiiau 
counsel  was  not  needed. 

One  evening  he  invited  some  of  his  friends  to  liis 
apartments  for  a  social  gathering.  Jlc  was  full  of 
good  cheer,  and  the  hours  went  by  in  delightful  fel- 
lowship. The  old  songs  were  sung,  the  old  stories 
told,  and  wit  and  humor  enlivened  the  company  of 
congenial  friends.  It  was  the  last  time  Luther  would 
indulge  in  such  mirthful  pleasure.  When  the  com- 
pany was  at  its  gayest,  the  young  host  told  his  guests 
of  his  intention  to  be  a  monk.  They  received  the  an- 
nouncement in  astonishment.  He  must  be  only  jest- 
ing; but  he  was  not.  They  sought  to  dissuade  him, 
but  he  was  inexorable.  He  told  them  good-by,  and 
that  night  or  the  next  day  he  knocked  for  admission 
at  the  doors  of  the  monastery.  He  left  all  his  books 
and  other  belongings  behind  him,  taking  witli  him 
only  a  copy  of  the  poems  of  Virgil  and  another  vol- 
ume, the  works  of  Plautus. 

The  monks  received  him  gladly.  It  was  an  honor 
to  their  order  to  receive  such  a  recruit.  For  a  month 
he  was  kept  in  seclusion.  None  of  his  friends  were 
allowed  to  visit  him.  During  that  time  he  was  ex- 
pected to  consider  well  the  step  he  was  about  to  take. 
At  any  time  during  these  weeks  of  separation  he  was 
at  liberty  to  reconsider  his  decision  and  return  to  the 
world.     Meantime  he  wrote  to  his  father,  acquainting 


52  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

him  with  what  he  had  done.  Hans  Luther  was  deeply 
offended.  He  wrote  his  son  a  bitter  letter,  denounc- 
ing his  course  and  giving  his  son  to  understand  that 
he  had  virtually  disinherited  him.  He  even  sought  to 
exercise  his  authority  as  a  parent.  But  all  of  this 
did  not  avail  to  shake  Martin's  purpose.  Such  con- 
viction as  his  could  not  be  shaken  by  even  a  father's 
commands.  And  his  spiritual  advisers  reminded  him 
of  what  the  Saviour  had  said  about  loving  father  and 
mother  more  than  him.  The  breach  between  the  fa- 
ther and  the  son  was  not  healed  in  many  days,  and  we 
may  be  sure  that  this  added  to  the  loneliness  and 
struggles  of  the  young  man,  so  full  of  life  and  am- 
bition, who  had  so  suddenly  turned  aside  from  the 
paths  of  worldly  honor  to  become  a  religious  recluse. 
Such  conscientiousness  was  heroic.  And  this  was  the 
man  that  God  was  leading,  and  who  would  in  turn 
lead  others. 


CHAPTER  V. 
Luther  as  Monk,  Priest,  and  Teacher. 

It  was  no  easy  life  upon  which  Martin  Luther  en- 
tered when  he  became  an  inmate  of  the  St.  Augustine 
monastery  at  Erfurt.  One  of  the  principles  of  monas- 
ticisni,  pagan  and  popish,  has  been  that  the  more  un- 
comfortable one  makes  himself  in  body,  the  more  apt 
he  is  to  be  pious  in  soul.  The  Augustine  order,  to 
which  Luther  attached  himself,  had  no  endowment  in 
funds  or  lands ;  its  income  was  derived  from  alms 
solicited  by  its  members  from  house  to  house.  And 
one  of  the  first  duties  imposed  upon  the  erstwhile 
student  of  the  university  and  the  young  Master  of 
Arts  was  to  take  his  bag  and  go  begging  upon  the 
streets  of  the  city  and  upon  the  highways  and  by- 
ways of  the  adjacent  country.  This  begging  would 
naturally  have  a  humiliating,  and  tlierefore  salutary, 
effect  upon  a  young  man  whose  besetting  sin  was  nat- 
urally supposed  to  be  pride.  This  roving  mendicancy 
certainly  possessed  the  quality  of  mortifying  a  young 
man  of  sensitive  spirit,  if  it  did  not  unfortunately  de- 
stroy his  self-respect,  and  this  state  of  mind  was  re- 
garded as  highly  religious. 

Evidently  the  brethren  thought  that  the  first  and 
most  important  thing  to  do  for  the  young  recruit  was 
to  break  his  spirit.  Besides  being  sent  a-bcgging  on 
the  streets,  he  was  given  the  most  menial  duties  about 
the  monastery.     He  swept  the  floors,  he  kept  the  gate. 

(S3) 


54  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

he  rang  the  bell;  he  was  at  once  janitor,  porter,  and 
sexton. 

His  monk's  uniform  was  evidently  intended  to  be 
a  means  of  grace.  Over  a  white  woolen  shirt  he  wore 
a  black  frock,  with  a  black  leather  belt  around  his 
waist,  and  on  his  head  he  wore  a  cowl,  or  monk's  cap. 
A  scapulary  completed  his  attire.  This  was  a  narrow 
piece  of  white  cloth  wound  about  his  shoulders  and 
upper  body,  and  was  intended  to  remind  him  of  the 
yoke  which  the  Saviour  said  was  easy,  but  which  these 
religionists  made  very  heavy  for  the  young  man.  He 
wore  this  supposed  garb  of  godliness  when  he  went 
about  his  duties  in  the  monastery  or  begging  on  the 
streets  or  sought  his  cell  of  prayer.  When  he  put 
off  these  clothes,  a  prayer  in  Latin  was  read  aloud 
to  him,  the  purport  of  which  was  that  he  might  put 
off  the  old  man  and  put  on  the  new.  It  is  easy  to 
imagine  that  clothes  like  these  were  not  agreeable  to 
a  proud  young  man.  These  men  thought  that  it  was 
not  enough  to  be  poor;  beggary  and  possible  bodily 
discomfort  were  essential  to  godliness. 

But  the  young  man  did  not  draw  back  or  complain. 
He  had  entered  the  monastery,  not  in  search  of  bodily 
ease,  but  soul  peace.  He  was  willing  to  do  even  more 
than  his  superiors  required.  His  yearning  spirit  made 
him  an  obedient  servant  of  his  order  for  the  sake  of 
his  Master,  whom  he  saw  despite  the  mists  and  fogs 
of  Romanism.  If  monks  in  other  ages  and  in  other 
lands  had  found  in  the  cloisters  a  hiding  place  for 
indolence  and  gross  sins,  Martin  Luther  did  not  enter 
a  monastery  with  any  such  object  in  view.     And  it 


Luther  as  Monk,  Priest,  and  I'cachcr.  55 

may  be  said  to  their  credit  that  llie  Aup^ustine  monks 
had  a  better  name  among-  the  Germans  than  the  mem- 
bers of  some  orders  in  other  countries.  So  corrui)t, 
indeed,  had  many  of  the  monks  become  that  the  very 
name  that  tradition  has  brong^lit  down  to  us  is  but  the 
synonym  for  indolent,  self-indulgent  hypocrisy.  Most 
men  and  women  who  entered  the  monastic  orders  did 
so  in  good  faith,  no  doubt,  but  imposed  upon  them- 
selves burdens  which  the  Saviour  never  imposed,  and 
wdiich  were  contrary  to  all  that  is  human.  Many  of 
them  broke  down  under  a  life  that  was  so  unnatu- 
ral, and,  falling  into  sin,  concealed  their  sin  under 
the  garb  of  their  several  orders  and  degenerated  eas- 
ily enough  into  the  most  contemptible  hypocrites,  and 
in  some  cases  into  the  most  open  and  defiant  sinners 
against  the  laws  of  God  and  men.  Familiarity  with 
sacred  things  has  bred  contempt  for  sacred  things  in 
many  a  clerical  heart.  The  high  priest  entered  the 
holy  of  holies  only  once  a  year,  and  then  not  without 
a  sacrifice. 

Luther  did  not  lose  his  reverence  for  the  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  the  monastic  life.  To  him,  then,  these 
rites,  as  well  as  all  the  rites  of  the  Church,  stood  for 
realities.  It  was  this  spirit  of  honest  reverence  that 
roused  his  righteous  soul  to  its  depths  when  Tetzel  be- 
gan to  hawk  indulgences  from  town  to  town  in  Ger- 
many. 

Life  in  the  monastery  was  one  dull  round  of  dreary 
and  monotonous  duties.  There  were  eight  diflfcrcnt 
times  for  prayer — horcp,  they  called  them — in  the 
course  of  the  day.     Every  monk  was  expected  to  say 


56  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

not  less  than  twenty-five  paternosters  and  numerous 
Ave  Marias.  Fasts  were  common,  and  the  fare  was 
never  sumptuous;  and  each  day  was  a  gloomy  fac- 
simile of  its  predecessor.  With  dingy  walls  and  dingy 
cells,  and  no  flowers,  the  joy  of  the  springtime  turned 
into  the  cheerlessness  of  winter;  no  wife,  no  sister, 
no  hope,  no  change,  no  relief;  the  consciousness  of 
sins,  real  or  imaginary,  tormenting  the  soul  like  a 
whip  of  scorpions — this.  In  part,  was  the  monastlcism 
to  which  Martin  Luther  gave  himself  in  the  very  hey- 
day of  his  young  manhood.  And  he  never  forsook  it 
until  driven  forth  by  an  enlightened  conscience  to  a 
life  that  was  more  real  and  to  duties  that  were  more 
genuine. 

Luther,  as  was  the  rule,  remained  on  probation 
twelve  months  before  he  became  a  real  monk.  At  the 
end  of  that  time,  being  adjudged  worthy,  he  was  ad- 
mitted into  full  fellowship  in  the  Augustine  order. 
The  reception  was  quite  well  calculated  to  impress  the 
honest  soul  of  Luther.  The  vows  were  solemn,  and 
were  for  the  whole  of  his  after  life.  He  promised  to 
obey  the  Saviour,  the  Virgin  Mary,  the  superior  of  his 
monastery,  and  the  authorities  of  his  order  and  of  the 
Church,  and  he  pledged  himself  to  lifelong  celibacy  and 
chastity.  Prostrating  himself  upon  the  ground  In  the 
form  of  a  cross,  holy  water  was  sprinkled  upon  him  and 
upon  the  clothes  he  was  to  put  on.  Then  the  monks 
gathered  about  him,  singing  hymns  and  assuring  him 
that  he  was  now  as  pure  as  an  infant  who  had  just  been 
baptized.  The  ceremony  sealed  his  connection  with 
the  order  of  St.  Augustine.    During  the  year  of  his  pro- 


Luther  as  Monk,  Priest,  and  Teacher.  57 

bation  he  might  have  receded ;  now  it  was  too  late.  But 
he  never  had  any  disposition  to  go  back.  He  bad  ])ut 
bis  bands  to  the  plow.  He  became  more  zealous  llian 
ever.  He  took  a  monastic  name,  calling  himself  Au- 
gustine. He  was  afterwards  ashamed  of  this,  and 
spoke  of  it  with  satirical  contempt.  He  said  it  was 
like  the  popes,  who  always  changed  their  names  when 
ascending  the  papal  throne;  and  nothing  popish  suited 
his  taste  after  he  once  broke  with  the  papacy.  He 
took  some  new  saints  into  his  personal  calendar,  St. 
Thomas  among  them.  He  was  unremitting  in  his  de- 
votions. H,  in  the  absorption  of  study,  he  had  neg- 
lected any  of  the  horce,  he  would  make  up  for  lost 
time  by  sleepless  nights  given  to  his  prayers.  The 
robust  constitution  which  he  had  inherited  from  his 
parents  was  put  to  the  severest  tests  by  the  severity 
of  his  fasts  and  sleepless  nights. 

Meanwhile  he  gave  as  much  of  his  time  as  might 
be  to  study.  He  was  permitted  free  access  to  the  P»i- 
ble,  and  its  study  constantly  enlarged  his  compre- 
hension of  truth.  Days  and  weeks  of  sunshine  are 
needful  to  bring  the  warmth  of  spring  to  the  winter- 
chilled  ground;  and  so,  many  months  and  even  years 
of  study  of  the  Word  of  God  were  required  to  bring 
to  the  soul  of  Luther,  long  overshadowed  by  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  Church,  a  clear  knowledge  of  tbe  gos- 
pel. He  was  long  in  learning  the  fallibility  of  tlic 
Church  and  the  infallibility  of  the  P.ible. 

At  first  Luther  found  some  peace  of  mind  in  the 
monastery.  Honest  faith  even  in  an  error  will  sonu- 
times  bring  temporary   rest  to  the   soul,  and    Martin 


5B  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

Luther  was  honest  to  the  core.  And  who  will  say 
that  this  temporary  peace  of  heart  may  not  become 
permanent  where  men  and  women  have  lived  fully  up 
to  the  light  they  have  ?  But  it  did  not  become  lifelong 
with  Martin  Luther.  It  could  not.  His  study  of  the 
Bible  made  permanent  soul  rest  in  the  rites  of  Ro- 
manism utterly  impossible. 

There  are  two  great  personal  facts  in  the  gospel. 
The  first  of  these  is  that  man  is  a  sinner.  The  other 
is  that  he  has  a  Saviour.  The  first  of  these  facts 
Luther  knew  sorrowfully  and  all  too  well.  The  Cath- 
olic: Church  has  never  concealed  this  fact  from  its 
followers.  On  the  contrary,  it  has  laid  unceasing,  un- 
merciful emphasis  upon  it.  It  is  because  men  are 
sinners,  and  because  the  knowledge  of  their  guilt  is 
and  has  always  been  insisted  upon,  that  poor  con- 
science-smitten adherents  to  the  Church  have  sought 
pardon  at  the  hands  of  priests  and  peace  at  Romish 
altars  and  in  Romish  monasteries  and  convents.  And 
millions  of  money,  some  of  it  gathered  in  unholy  con- 
quests, have  gone  into  Romish  cofifers  because  men 
were  taught  by  Rome  that  the  pope  and  his  priests 
held  the  keys  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  only 
those  might  enter  who  paid  tribute  to  the  gatekeepers. 
The  guilty  consciences  of  men  created  the  demand 
for  the  stock  in  trade  handled  by  these  ecclesiastical 
mercenaries.  The  merits  of  the  Saviour,  as  well  as 
the  long-stored-up  righteousness  of  saints,  were  at  the 
exclusive  disposal  of  the  "holy  father"  and  those  depu- 
tized by  him  to  act  as  his  agents,  and  since  it  was 
worth  no  small  consideration  to  handle  these  spiritual 


Luther  as  Monk,  Priest,  and  Tcaclicr.  59 

commodities,  the  holy  father  turned  his  agencies  into 
a  means  of  much  pecuniary  profit.  Such  a  monopoly 
prevented  any  manipulation  of  the  market  by  bulls 
and  bears  in  their  own  interest,  and  saved  the  devout 
believer  from  imposition  by  greedy  middlemen.  Such 
considerateness  on  the  part  of  his  holiness  toward  his 
numerous  customers  filled  many  of  them  with  admi- 
ration close  akin  to  worship,  and  the  head  of  the  great 
ecclesiastical  supply  store  was  indignant  when  any 
had  the  temerity  to  question  the  character  of  his  goods 
and  deny  his  right  to  sell  them.  His  infallible  seal 
made  any  article  that  he  sold  or  gave  away  (and  some- 
times he  was  kind  enough  to  give  some  of  his  bless- 
ings away)  genuine  and  current  in  heaven  and  on 
earth. 

Luther's  sense  of  guilt  was  persistent  and  intense. 
It  was  like  the  bitter  experience  of  David.  Like  the 
ancient  king  of  Israel,  he  could  have  said:  "My  sin  is 
ever  before  me."  It  was  this  sense  of  sin  that  drove 
despairing  souls  like  his  to  the  cloister.  But  the 
cloister  brought  him  no  settled  peace.  The  Church 
said,  *'Go  to  the  confessional,"  and  he  confessed  every 
day.  He  annoyed  his  confessor  with  the  very  honesty 
and  fullness  of  his  confessions.  He  wanted  to  con- 
fess everything  in  detail,  all  he  had  ever  done  in  all 
his  life  that  was  wrong,  and  all  his  temptations  to  do 
wrong  as  well.  His  conscience  made  sins  out  of  temp- 
tations and  crimes  out  of  sins.  The  monks  told  him 
to  do  good  works,  but  he  said  he  was  a  sinner  in  the 
sight  of  God  and  he  did  not  think  that  anything  he 
might  do  would  appease  the  divine  wrath.    As  he  read 


6o  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

of  the  justice  of  God  in  connection  with  justification 
his  soul  drew  back  in  horror.  What  hope  could  he 
have  from  the  justice  of  God?  The  Church  said, 
''Fast,"  and  Luther  fasted,  at  one  time  abstaining  from 
food  and  sleep  almost  completely  for  seven  weeks. 
The  Church  commanded  penance,  and  Luther  put  on 
a  hair  shirt  and  tortured  his  poor  body  into  cadaverous 
leanness.  Once,  so  tradition  says,  he  was  in  such  dis- 
tress that  he  shut  himself  in  his  cell  and  did  not  come 
out  for  four  days.  At  last  one  of  his  fellow-monks,  who 
knew  something  of  Luther's  state  of  mind,  took  some 
of  the  choral  boys  of  the  monastery  and  attempted  to 
enter  his  retreat.  The  door  was  fastened  on  the  in- 
side, and  the  only  way  of  getting  in  was  to  force  the 
door.  When  they  entered  the  cell  they  found  Luther 
lying  unconscious  on  the  floor.  Forthwith  they  began 
to  sing.  The  soft  music  they  made  gradually  brought 
the  poor  hermit  back  to  consciousness  and  to  life. 
Poor  Martin  knew  that  he  was  a  sinner,  but  he  did 
not  know  that  he  had  a  Saviour.  But  this  knowledge 
was  to  come  to  him.  His  night  was  far  spent.  The 
day  was  at  hand. 

Hid  away  in  the  monasteries  of  this  age,  and  of 
other  ages  that  had  gone  before  it,  were  some  good 
men  who  had  learned  to  look  beyond  the  walls  of 
their  monastic  homes  and  beyond  the  rites  and  routine 
of  their  lonely  life  to  the  One  who  had  died  for  them, 
and,  looking,  found  a  life  and  a  light  that  was  not  of 
the  cloister.  Such  men  as  Francis  of  Assisi  and 
Thomas  a  Kempis  were  the  salt  that  saved  monasti- 
cism  from  utter  corruption,  and  the  light  that  shed  a 


Luther  as  Monk,  Priest,  and  Teacher.  6i 

Christly  illumination  into  the  darkest  cells  of  Romish 
monasteries.  In  the  monastery  at  Erfurt  Luther  was 
to  find  at  least  one  man  who  had  learned  the  way  of 
life  more  perfectly  than  the  Church  taui^ht  it.  lie 
too  had  struggled  with  guilt  and  doubt.  And  he  had 
found  the  way  to  peace  and  salvation  by  the  way  of 
the  cross.  Ananias  had  led  Paul  into  the  kingdom ; 
this  man  was  to  lead  Martin  Luther.  His  name  was 
John  Staupitz.  And  he  was  the  vicar-general  of  tlie 
Augustine  order  in  Germany. 

Staupitz  came  of  a  noble  German  family,  but  little 
is  known  of  his  early  history.  He  had  consecrated 
himself  to  the  monastic  life  early  in  his  youth,  but  did 
not  find  spiritual  peace  in  the  monastery.  Groping 
in  the  dark,  he  at  last  found  the  light;  and  having 
found  it  himself,  he  was  prepared  to  help  the  strug- 
o'line  Luther.  He  seems  to  have  been  attracted  to 
Luther  from  the  very  beginning  of  his  acquaintance 
with  the  young  monk.  He  came  to  the  monastery  at 
Erfurt  in  his  regular  visitations,  and  Luther  gladly 
opened  his  heart  to  him  as  to  a  spiritual  father.  Stau- 
pitz understood  his  case  at  once,  and  he  gave  him  the 
first  counsel  that  brought  peace  to  the  long-troubled 
soul  of  Luther.  He  told  him  that  repentance,  and  mit 
penance,  was  acceptable  to  God ;  that  a  sense  of  sin 
was  not  an  evidence  of  enmity  to  God  but  a  different 
attitude;  warned  him  against  the  danger  of  exagger- 
ating his  sins ;  counseled  him  to  study  nothing  but  the 
Bible;  and,  best  of  all,  told  him  that  Jesus  alone  can 
save.  Furthermore,  he  said  to  Luther:  "Love  him 
who  first  loved  you." 


62  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

This  was  a  new  gospel  to  Luther,  and  it  was  as 
grateful  to  him  as  the  light  of  the  morning.  It  was 
the  water  of  life  to  his  famishing  soul. 

But  the  struggle  was  not  yet  ended.  Luther  did 
not  as  yet  fully  understand  the  light  that  had  come  to 
him  nor  the  water  of  which  he  had  but  tasted.  Shortly 
afterwards  he  fell  sick.  His  old  remorse  returned. 
He  was  ready  to  despair.  An  old  monk  came  to  see 
him  in  his  cell.  Luther  opened  the  depths  of  his  soul 
to  the  venerable  man.  Luther's  visitor  was  not  skilled 
in  dealing  with  troubled  souls,  perhaps,  but  he  simply 
said  to  Luther:  *'I  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins." 
From  his  very  childhood  Luther  had  known  the  Apos- 
tles' Creed,  and  had  recited  this  article  of  it  a  thou- 
sand times.  Before  this  it  had  been  to  him  a  far-away 
truth.  Now  it  becomes  a  living,  gracious  fact.  It 
took  out  of  his  mind  the  error  that  sinners  can  atone 
for  their  sins,  or  that  they  can  be  removed  by  priestly 
absolution  or  purgatorial  fires.  Learning  this,  Luther 
could  never  be  a  blind  fanatic  again.  The  light  had 
come  to  his  soul. 

Years  after  this,  while  reading  Paul's  letter  to  the 
Romans,  his  attention  was  fixed  upon  the  statement  in 
the  seventeenth  verse  of  the  first  chapter,  which  is  a 
quotation  from  the  prophet  Habakkuk :  *'The  just  shall 
live  by  faith."  His  meditations  upon  these  words  led 
to  the  formation  of  those  convictions  relative  to  the 
great  doctrine  of  the  New  Testament,  the  doctrine  of 
the  great  Reformation,  and  the  doctrine  of  the  great 
revival  of  the  eighteenth  century — the  doctrine  of  jus- 
tification by  faith, 


Luther  as  Monk,  Priest,  and  Teacher.  63 

Of  course  Martin  Luther  did  not  immediately  reach 
a  full  comprehension  of  all  that  he  now  accepted  as 
true.  His  spiritual  eyes  were  not  as  yet  adjusted  to 
the  greater  light  and  all  that  it  revealed.  For  years 
after  this  he  was  a  devout  Romanist,  never  dreaming 
that  he  was  to  lead  in  a  reformation  that  he  would 
perhaps  at  this  time  have  regarded  as  an  unholy 
schism. 

After  some  two  years  spent  in  the  monastery  at  Er- 
furt, Martin  Luther  was  ordained  a  priest  in  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  Church.  It  was  a  great  occasion.  Hans 
Luther  came  to  see  the  ordination.  The  old  father 
had  been  very  stubborn  in  his  opposition  to  his  son's 
course.  But  two  of  his  sons  had  died  in  a  visitation 
of  the  plague.  He  had  heard  that  Martin,  too,  had  fal- 
len a  victim  to  it;  and  all  this  sorrow,  together  with 
the  joy  he  experienced  when  he  learned  that  his  fa- 
vorite son  was  spared,  softened  the  old  man's  heart, 
and  he  was  fully  reconciled  to  his  son,  now  to  be  a 
priest. 

Luther  was  much  impressed  with  the  ordination 
service.  But  he  said  in  after  times,  when  he  thought 
of  the  words  of  the  officiating  bishop,  "Take  authority 
to  offer  sacrifices  for  the  living  and  the  dead,"  that  it 
was  a  wonder  the  earth  did  not  open  and  swallow 
them  up. 

A  year  later  he  went  to  Wittenberg  to  take  his  place 
in  the  new  university  just  established  by  Frederick  the 
Wise,  the  good  elector  of  Saxony,  so  long  Luther's 
friend  and  protector  in  the  stormy  years  of  the  great 
Reformation. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
Luther  at  Wittenberg. 

To  every  Protestant  peculiar  interest  attaches  to  the 
little  city  of  Wittenberg.  Here  Martin  Luther  spent  the 
greater  part  of  his  eventful  life.  Here  took  place  the  out- 
ward beginnings  of  the  great  Reformation.  Here  was 
the  storm  center  of  the  great  movement  during  the  tem- 
pestuous years  of  his  strenuous  life.  Here  he  began  to 
preach,  timidly  and  tentatively  at  first,  but  later  with  a 
boldness  and  a  fidelity  to  the  Scriptures  and  to  his 
new-found  faith  that  startled  all  Germany,  and  finally 
woke  up  the  sleeping  consciences  of  men  from  the 
shadow  of  the  Vatican  to  the  shores  of  the  Arctic 
Ocean.  Here  he  posted  his  ninety-five  theses  to  the 
door  of  the  Church.  Here  he  burned  the  papal  bull  of 
excommunication.  Here  he  married  and  spent  most  of 
his  real  home  life.  Here,  after  he  had  served  his  gener- 
ation by  the  will  of  God,  and  blessed  it  with  a  life  that 
made  it  one  of  the  noted  generations  of  the  race  in  all 
its  history,  he  found  sepulture.  Here  in  the  Schloss- 
kirche  rest  his  ashes,  awaiting  the  resurrection. 

Wittenberg  is  on  the  right  side  of  the  Elbe  River, 
fifty-five  miles  southwest  of  Berlin,  now  the  capital  of 
the  great  German  Empire.  It  has  never  been  a  large 
city.  The  population  twenty  years  ago  was  less  than 
15,000.  The  university  where  Luther  was  one  of  the 
faculty  was  merged,  in  18 17,  into  the  University  of 
Halle,  but  the  name  is  preserved  in  the  combined  in- 
stitutions.    The  French,  during  some  of  the  Napole- 

(64) 


Luther  at  Wittenberg.  65 

onic  wars,  broke  down  the  door  to  the  church  on  which 
Luther  nailed  his  theses,  but  an  iron  door  has  taken  its 
place.  The  house  where  Luther  lived  after  he  left  the 
monastery  is  still  preserved  measurably  intact,  and 
travelers  who  visit  the  little  city  are  shown  many  places 
connected  with  the  history  of  Martin  Luther  and  his 
colaborers.  When  Charles  V.  captured  the  town,  a 
year  or  two  after  Luther's  death,  some  of  his  Catholic 
friends  pointed  out  the  tomb  of  the  reformer  and  urged 
him  to  burn  the  dead  body  of  the  man  who  had  made 
so  much  trouble  for  the  emperor. 

"I  am  making  war  upon  the  living,  and  not  upon 
the  dead,"  was  Charles's  reply.  The  emperor,  who 
was  unfortunate  in  having  greatness  thrust  upon  him, 
and  whom  we  shall  meet  again  in  the  course  of  this 
history,  was  not  wholly  bad ;  and  one  is  not  surprised 
that  he,  in  sheer  disgust,  gave  up  the  throne  for  a  cell 
in  a  monastery  late  in  life. 

The  University  of  Wittenberg  was  established  by 
Frederick  the  Wise,  as  he  was  called,  in  1502.  This 
good  prince,  while  he  never  openly  adopted  the  faith 
of  Martin  Luther,  nevertheless  showed  him  tolera- 
tion, and  saved  the  reformer's  life  at  the  Diet  of 
Worms.  Wlien  Maximilian  died,  he  was  offered  the 
place  of  emperor  thus  made  vacant,  but  declined  the 
honor  and  cast  his  vote  for  the  young  Charles.  This 
choice  led  to  the  union  of  the  kingdom  of  Spain  and 
the  German  Empire,  and,  what  is  more  important  in 
its  bearings  upon  the  history  of  Martin  Luther,  doubt- 
less brought  about  such  relations  of  cordiality  between 
Charles  V.  and  Frederick  that  the  latter  was  inclined 

5 


66  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

to  be  more  lenient  toward  a  man  whom  Frederick  re- 
garded with  so  much  favor. 

Frederick  intrusted  the  selection  of  a  faculty  to  Stau- 
pitz,  the  vicar-general  of  the  Augustine  order  in  Ger- 
many, and  this  judicious  ecclesiastic  fulfilled  the  trust 
committed  to  him  with  much  wisdom.  He  gathered 
about  him  a  group  of  competent  and  learned  men,  and 
the  new  institution  soon  acquired  a  great  reputation 
for  scholastic  worth.  Shakespeare  makes  Hamlet  one 
of  its  students,  and  no  university  in  all  Europe  ex- 
erted a  wider  influence.  Philip  Melanchthon  was  one 
of  the  teachers,  and  a  venerable  man  named  Pollich, 
who  was  called  by  his  admirers  *'The  Light  of  the 
World,"  because  of  his  learning,  had  a  place  in  the 
faculty.  And  Staupitz  did  not  forget  Martin  Luther. 
Exercising  his  authority  over  the  Augustine  order,  he 
brought  Luther  from  Erfurt  to  Wittenberg  in  1508. 

The  instructions  to  go  to  Wittenberg  were  so  sud- 
den and  summary  that  Luther  did  not  have  time  even  to 
bid  his  friends  farewell.  Taking  a  final  look  at  the 
cell  where  he  had  spent  three  years  that  he  could 
never  forget,  he  gathered  his  simple  wardrobe,  a  few 
classic  books,  his  Bibles  (he  now  had  two,  one  of  which 
had  been  given  him  by  Staupitz),  and  a  few  other 
simple  belongings,  and,  storing  them  in  his  port- 
manteau, hastened  to  Wittenberg. 

He  began  his  work  in  his  new  place  with  lectures  on 
philosophy.  The  natural  sciences,  which  were  in  their 
infancy  at  the  time,  as  we  have  seen,  seem  to  have  been 
the  specialty  to  which  he  gave  his  attention.  His  work 
in  the  university  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  lecture 


Luther  at  Wittenberg,  6? 

on  Aristotle,  and  the  old  Greek  was  not  a  favorite  of 
his  when  he  became  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  spirit 
of  the  Reformation.  He  considered  Aristotle  as  es- 
sentially atheistic. 

The  study  and  teaching  of  philosophy  were  not 
quite  to  his  liking.  From  the  moment  he  reached  Wit- 
tenberg he  longed  to  give  his  exclusive  attention  to 
theology ;  *'but,"  be  added  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  "the 
theology  which  seeks  the  kernel  in  the  nut,  the  pulp 
in  the  wheat,  and  the  marrow  in  the  bones.  However," 
he  went  on,  "God  is  God,  and  he  will  guide  us  unto 
death." 

He  did  not  neglect  his  philosophical  lectures,  but  he 
betook  himself  to  the  study  of  theology.  He  was  al- 
ready familiar  with  the  Schoolmen.  He  had  waded 
with  more  or  less  profit  through  what  they  had  writ- 
ten about  the  questions  that  had  engaged  their  abstract, 
hair-splitting  minds  and  speculations.  And  he  had  read 
and  meditated  deeply  upon  the  works  of  St.  Augustine, 
the  patron  of  his  order.  The  teachings  of  Augus- 
tine greatly  influenced  his  opinions  throughout  his 
whole  life.  It  is  easy  to  trace  the  effects  of  Augus- 
tine's theories  touching  election  and  freedom  of  the 
will  in  what  Luther  taught  and  believed.  But  now, 
as  for  months  before  this,  he  gave  precedence  in  his 
studies  to  the  Bible  itself.  In  order  to  understand  this, 
he  applied  himself  assiduously  to  the  mastery  of  Greek 
and  Hebrew.  He  was  not  satisfied  to  take  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  Bible  from  a  Latin  translation. 

The  next  year  after  he  came  to  Wittenberg,  Luther 
took  his  bachelor's  degree  in  divinity,  and  in   15  u  he 


68  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

took  his  doctor's  degree.  These  degrees  not  only  gave 
him  the  privilege,  but  imposed  upon  him  the  duty,  of 
lecturing  on  theology.  This  was  much  to  his  liking. 
He  gave  attention  in  his  lectures,  not  to  the  dry  the- 
ories of  the  scholastics,  but  to  the  Bible  itself.  And  his 
lectures  attracted  immediate  attention,  and  in  course  of 
time  drew  many  students  to  the  university. 

Up  to  this  time  Luther,  though  an  ordained  priest, 
had  not  preached.  After  going  to  Wittenberg  his  friend 
and  official  superior,  the  worthy  Staupitz,  asked  him 
to  preach  in  the  Augustine  Church ;  and  some  of  the 
authorities  say  that  he  was  chosen  by  the  University 
Senate  as  preacher  for  the  college.  Luther  objected 
strenuously  to  this  arrangement.  "It  is  no  small  mat- 
ter," he  said,  "to  speak  to  men  in  God's  stead.  Why, 
it  would  be  the  death  of  me  before  three  months." 
Staupitz  assured  him  that  it  would  be  a  good  way  to 
die,  and  the  reluctant  Luther  was  constrained  to  yield. 

The  Augustine  monastery  at  Wittenberg  had  not 
been  opened  more  than  two  years  when  Luther  took  up 
his  abode  there,  and  the  foundations  of  the  church  con- 
nected with  it  had  just  been  laid.  In  the  square  in  the 
town  was  a  small  wooden  chapel,  twenty  feet  wide  and 
thirty  feet  long,  the  walls  of  which  were  ready  to  tum- 
ble down,  and  whose  whole  appearance  was  unsightly. 
The  pulpit  of  boards,  three  feet  high,  was  as  unsightly 
as  the  outside  of  this  insignificant  building.  Here  Mar- 
tin Luther  began  to  preach,  and  here  was  the  birthplace 
of  the  great  Reformation.  Like  the  Master  whom  it  was 
to  exalt,  it  was  born  in  a  house  little  better  than  a  stable. 

Luther's   preaching  attracted   immediate    attention. 


Luther  at  Wittenberg.  69 

He  had  told  Staiipitz  that  he  would  not  imitate  his 
predecessors,  and  he  did  not.  His  voice  was  at  once 
far-reaching  and  musical ;  his  countenance  glowed  with 
animation;  he  spoke  his  native  tongue  with  fluency;  his 
imagination  was  vivid  and  picturesque ;  he  was  pro- 
foundly in  earnest,  and  such  earnestness  could  not  fail 
to  impress  others.  He  had  found  the  way  of  life  and 
was  eager  to  show  it  to  others ;  and  he  had  a  message 
for  men  fresh  from  the  Word  of  God.  It  was  his  ap- 
peals to  the  Bible  itself  that  really  gave  him  his  power 
over  men.  He  expounded  the  Bible,  and  his  exposi- 
tions were  divine  truths  set  on  fire  by  a  soul  that  was 
itself  aflame,  and  by  that  divine  Spirit  who  never  fails 
to  place  his  indorsement  upon  the  gospel.  No  wonder 
men  listened  and  marveled.  They  were  hungry  for  the 
bread  of  life,  and  here  was  a  man  who  had  it  in  plenty 
and  in  purity.  "This  man,"  said  the  learned  Pollich, 
"will  put  all  the  doctors  to  the  rout.  He  will  introduce 
a  new  doctrine.  He  will  reform  the  whole  Church. 
He  builds  upon  the  Word  of  God,  and  no  one  can  over- 
throw or  resist  that."  Like  Caiaphas,  but  with  better 
motives  than  inspired  the  old  Jewish  high  priest,  Pol- 
lich spoke  more  wisely  than  he  knew. 

Luther  did  not  preach  in  the  little  wooden  chapel 
long;  in  a  little  while  he  was  chosen  city  preacher  by 
the  council  of  Wittenberg,  and  in  the  city  church,  the 
university  chapel,  and  in  the  church  of  the  Augustines, 
when  it  was  finished,  he  found  a  place  and  a  hearing. 
The  common  people  heard  him  gladly,  and  princes 
were  among  his  hearers.  His  patron,  the  wise  Fred- 
erick, listened  to  him  on  at  least  one  occasion.     Every 


70  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

great  reformation  and  every  great  revival  has  begun 
first  in  the  closet  and  afterwards  in  the  pulpit.  Martin 
Luther  had  prayed  to  the  Father  which  seeth  in  secret, 
and  the  Father  which  seeth  in  secret  was  rewarding 
him  openly.  The  harvest  was  ripening;  the  harvester 
was  being  trained  for  the  reaping. 

Staupitz,  who  was  a  very  busy  man,  needed  an  as- 
sistant in  his  work  as  a  vicar-general  of  the  Augustine 
order,  and  called  Luther  to  his  aid.  This  call  gave 
Luther  a  wider  field  of  usefulness.  He  visited  the 
monasteries  of  the  Augustines,  and  carried  with  him 
the  deputed  authority  of  his  chief.  These  visitations 
gave  him  opportunity  to  learn  many  facts  as  to  the 
conditions  of  the  people  as  well  as  the  members  of  his 
order.  And  his  visits  were  not  perfunctory  nor  rounds 
of  social  feasting  and  enjoyment.  He  did  not  mince 
matters  where  he  found  any  wrongdoing.  In  some 
places  he  says  he  found  that  the  monks  were  in  gross 
ignorance  of  the  Bible;  "they  knew  more  about  St. 
Thomas  than  they  did  St.  Paul."  In  one  monastery  he 
found  much  dissension,  and,  regarding  this  as  due  to  the 
lack  of  firmness  on  the  part  of  the  superior,  he  forth- 
with discharged  that  official  from  his  place.  Stern  as 
he  was,  he  was  not  intentionally  unkind  or  unjust. 
He  knew  how  to  use  both  salt  and  salve.  Withal  he 
was  a  busy  man.  His  life  now  was  full  of  the  activity 
for  which  he  was  fitted  by  temperament  and  training, 
and  the  great  common  sense,  which  was  always  his, 
stood  him  in  good  stead  in  his  multiplied  duties.  He 
lectured  his  classes  on  the  Bible,  which  was  his  fa- 
vorite work ;  he  visited  the  monasteries ;  he  kept  up  his 


Luther  at  Wittenberg,  yi 

devotional  habits.  He  said  he  needed  two  secretaries 
to  keep  up  his  correspondence.  He  often  spent  whole 
nights  in  the  preparation  of  his  lectures.  He  did  not 
slack  in  his  preaching,  and  all  the  while  he  had  that 
strength  of  soul  which  comes  from  an  enlightened  and 
personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  He  was  a  ritualist 
still;  but  the  mass,  the  holy  communion,  penance,  and 
priestly  absolution  were  to  him  the  shadows  of  deeper 
realities.  The  true  foundation  was  laid;  the  false 
superstructure  would  fall  away  in  the  course  of  time. 
His  heart  was  in  the  kingdom ;  his  head  would  come 
in  by  and  by.  The  Spirit's  witness  is  not  necessarily 
an  indorsement  of  men's  creed ;  it  is  an  indorsement  of 
their  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  A  genuine  Christian  expe- 
rience is  a  sure  teacher  of  righteousness,  but  it  is  not 
at  once  an  infallible  guide  into  correct  theology. 

As  already  stated,  Luther  spent  most  of  his  life 
after  this  period  at  Wittenberg.  But  a  year  or  so 
after  he  went  to  the  university  there  he  was  summoned 
back  to  Erfurt  for  a  time.  Here  he  took  the  same  aca- 
demic standing  as  at  Wittenberg  and  continued  his  lec- 
tures. After  a  year  and  a  half  he  returned  to  Witten- 
berg, and  from  this  time  onward  for  many  years  he 
was  identified  with  the  university  there. 

An  occasion  came  about  this  time  when  Luther's 
fidelity  and  fortitude  were  put  to  the  test.  The  plague 
broke  out  at  Wittenberg.  This  fearful  pestilence  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  which  sometimes  depopulated  whole 
districts  and  which  the  superstitious  people  of  those 
dark  days  regarded  as  a  visitation  of  divine  wrath,  or 
a  scouree  from  the  devil  himself,  evidently  originated 


"^2  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

in  unsanitary  conditions,  and  disappeared  from  West- 
ern Europe  with  the  advance  of  Christian  civilization. 
The  people  of  Wittenberg  fled  before  the  pestilence, 
and  Luther  was  urged  to  take  flight  from  the  city.  He 
flatly  refused  to  do  so,  however,  and  came  through  the 
visitation  unharmed.  Unwittingly  he  was  setting  in 
operation  moral  forces  which  would  ultimately  banish 
this  scourge  from  his  own  land,  as  well  as  from  all 
lands  where  the  better  way  that  he  had  found  was  ac- 
cepted by  the  people.  True  Christianity,  like  its  Au- 
thor, has  gone  over  the  earth  healing  the  sick. 

In  15 1 1  Luther  enjoyed  a  privilege  that  he  greatly 
appreciated,  and  one  which  exercised  no  small  influ- 
ence over  his  after  life.  Some  difference  of  opinion, 
and  even  very  serious  differences,  but  the  full  nature 
of  which  is  not  explained,  had  arisen  between  Staupitz 
and  some  of  the  Augustine  monasteries.  The  matters 
were  so  important  that  it  was  deemed  best  to  submit 
the  questions  at  issue  to  the  pope,  and  Luther  was 
commissioned  to  go  to  Rome  on  this  business.  The 
journey  was  made  on  foot.  He  was  accompanied  by 
another  monk  and  a  layman,  who  went  along  as  helper 
and  companion.  The  pedestrians  found  lodging  and 
entertainment  by  the  way  in  various  monasteries. 
Crossing  the  Alps  into  Lombardy,  they  tarried  for 
some  days  in  a  monastery  of  the  Benedictines.  This 
monastery  was  rich  in  endowments,  and  the  simple- 
minded  Luther  was  astonished  at  the  luxurious  life  of 
the  inmates.  Their  home  was  a  palace,  with  rich 
furnishings.  Marble,  silk,  and  dainties  were  every- 
where, and  the  brethren  fared  sumptuously  every  day. 


Liithcr  at  Wittenberg,  73 

Wine  flowed  freely,  and  meat  was  eaten  every  day,  re- 
gardless of  all  the  restrictions  of  the  Church.  Here 
was  gilded  monasticism,  seclusion  without  sacrifice,  a 
hermitage  without  hardships.  The  honest  Luther  ven- 
tured to  suggest  to  his  hosts  that  they  should  abstain 
from  meat  at  least  on  Fridays,  but  the  hint  was  not 
taken  kindly.  The  porter  told  the  Germans  that  it 
might  not  be  safe  for  them  to  stay  longer,  and  the 
travelers  took  their  journey  toward  Rome.  These 
men  from  the  north  saw  many  things  by  the  way  that 
interested  them  greatly.  The  fertile  fields  of  fair  Italy 
were  a  revelation  of  beauty  to  them ;  but  the  hot  sun 
of  this  southern  land  was  too  much  for  Luther,  and 
when  he  reached  Bologna  he  was  taken  seriously  ill. 
For  a  time  he  thought  he  would  die,  and  his  old  dis- 
tress of  mind  came  back  to  him.  But  he  soon  reas- 
sured himself  with  the  words  that  had  given  him  com- 
fort on  so  many  occasions,  "The  just  shall  live  b\' 
faith,"  and,  quickly  recovering,  went  on  his  way. 

No  Mohammedan  pilgrim  ever  approached  Mecca, 
and  no  devout  Jew  ever  came  in  sight  of  Jerusalem 
with  more  enthusiasm  than  Martin  Luther  felt  when 
he  first  viewed  Rome.  Falling  upon  his  knees,  he  ex- 
claimed :  'Tloly  Rome,  I  salute  thee !" 

''The  sorrow  of  disillusion"  awaited  him.  It  had 
been  better  for  his  faith  as  a  Roman  Catholic  if  he  had 
never  looked  upon  the  Vatican.  He  declared  after- 
wards that  he  would  not  have  missed  seeing  Rome  for 
a  hundred  thousand  florins.  But  for  his  visit  there, 
he  said,  he  might  have  feared  that  he  had  misrepre- 
sented the  pope  and  his  doings  and  the  doings  of  the 


74  ^  -^^/^  of  Martin  Luther. 

priests.  "But  as  we  see,  we  speak,"  he  added.  In  his 
after  life  he  made  the  indignant  confession  that  he 
ran  about  from  church  to  church  "hke  a  crazy  saint," 
beHeving  all  the  absurd  things  that  were  told  him  about 
relics  and  images  and  saints;  and  he  rejoiced  that  it 
was  his  privilege,  he  added,  to  read  mass  in  the  holy 
city.  He  almost  regretted  that  his  parents  were  still 
alive,  for  if  they  were  dead  he  could  now  pray  them 
out  of  purgatory.  But  the  better  faith  that  was  born 
within  him  revolted  at  some  of  the  superstitious  non- 
sense that  he  was  taught  to  believe,  but  which  no  priest 
at  Rome  had  any  faith  in  at  all.  Once,  when  climbing 
on  his  knees  up  the  stairway  that  was  said  to  have  led 
to  Pilate's  judgment  hall,  and  up  which  the  Saviour 
was  reputed  to  have  gone  to  his  sentence  of  death,  up 
which  devout  Romanists  still  climb,  he  rose  from  his 
knees,  exclaiming:  "The  just  shall  live  by  faith." 

He  heard  many  things  in  Rome  that  shocked  him. 
The  city  still  reeked  with  the  foul  odors  of  the  Borgias. 
He  heard  vague  hints  of  Alexander,  who,  less  than  a 
score  of  year  before,  had  occupied  the  papal  chair:  of 
his  children,  his  brother's  murder,  of  the  unspeakable 
incest  charged  to  him,  and  heard  other  things  that  were 
enough  to  drive  him  from  popery  forever.  But  the 
spell  was  not  yet  broken. 

At  the  time  of  Luther's  visit  Julius  H.  was  pope. 
This  ecclesiastic  was  somewhat  better  than  Alexander, 
but  he  had  his  own  characteristics.  Among  them  was 
an  overmastering  desire  to  extend  the  papal  power 
and  possessions.  And  he  was  not  content  to  do  this 
by  political  intrigue  and  popish  treachery ;  these  were 


Luther  at  Wittenberg.  75 

too  slow  and  uncertain,  and  he  called  the  sword  into 
requisition.  Occupying  a  seat  which  St.  Peter  was 
supposed  to  have  been  entitled  to,  and  claiming 
power  upon  the  assumption  that  the  Master  had  ac- 
corded that  power  to  Peter,  he  considered  himself 
as  entirely  absolved  from  the  restrictions  placed  by  the 
Master  upon  Peter  when  he  said  to  the  brave  but  mis- 
taken apostle  in  the  garden :  "Put  up  . . .  thy  sword  . . .  ; 
they  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish  with  the  sword." 
Julius  made  war,  won  battles,  extended  his  domain  by 
the  use  of  the  sword ;  and  still  sat  in  Peter's  seat. 
Once,  when  fighting  the  French,  he  was  reading  a 
prayer  in  behalf  of  the  success  of  his  army,  when  news 
was  brought  that  his  soldiers  had  been  defeated. 
Uttering  a  bitter  curse,  he  threw  the  prayer  book  down 
and  exclaimed  :  "Art  thou  become  a  Frenchman  ?"  It 
was  before  this  sacrilegious  usurper  that  Luther  came 
to  present  his  matters.  Nothing  is  recorded  of  this 
audience,  nor  of  the  decision  rendered  by  Julius,  and 
we  know  nothing  of  the  impression  made  upon  Luther 
at  the  time  by  what  he  saw  of  the  pope.  Julius  was  a 
man  of  aflfairs  and  held  a  strong  hand  upon  the  munic- 
ipal government  of  Rome,  keeping  the  streets  clean 
and  furnishing  good  police  protection ;  and  the  general 
impression  left  on  Luther's  mind  was  that  he  was  at 
least  a  good  civil  executive.  And  at  this  time  Luther 
was  as  devoutly  loyal  to  all  the  teachings  of  the  Church 
as  to  the  supremacy  of  the  Roman  pontiff. 

That  which  surprised  and  bewildered  Luther  most 
was  the  reckless  irreverence  of  the  priests.  Rome  was 
honeycombed  with  skepticism.    The  man  who  believed 


^6  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

in  Christianity  was  considered  a  fool.  Men  made  open 
ridicule  of  everything  sacred.  Once,  when  Luther  was 
celebrating  mass  with  some  of  the  Roman  priests,  one 
of  them  whispered  impatiently  to  him :  "Hurry  up ! 
Make  haste  and  send  the  Son  home  to  his  mother,  our 
Lady !"  And  another  priest  boasted  in  his  presence — 
and  laughed  at  his  smartness — that  on  one  occasion 
he  had  changed  the  words  of  consecration  in  the  com- 
munion to :  "Bread  thou  art,  and  bread  shalt  thou  re- 
main !"  and  "Wine  thou  art,  and  wine  shalt  thou  re- 
main !"  Luther  carried  the  memory  of  this  profanity 
through  the  after  years,  and  the  memory  was  no  small 
factor  in  moving  his  honest  soul  to  righteous  revolt 
against  the  power  of  Rome. 

Of  course  Luther  saw  the  places  of  greatest  interest 
about  Rome,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  classics  gave 
him  a  keen  relish  for  all  the  historic  sites  about  the 
ancient  and  renowned  city.  His  soul  was  stirred  with- 
in him  as  he  walked  through  the  dark  passages  of  the 
catacombs,  where  tens  of  thousands  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians were  buried,  many  of  whom  had  died  in  martyr- 
dom. He  looked  upon  the  Vatican  too,  where  the  Ro- 
man pontiffs  had  held  court  like  kings,  and,  like  the 
worst  of  kings,  have  sometimes  practiced  all  the  infa- 
mies of  royalty.  And  he  saw  St.  Peter's,  not  yet  com- 
pleted, and  to  finish  which  Leo  afterwards  sold  the  in- 
dulgences. This  fated  structure,  while  it  was  to  stand 
forth  as  the  greatest  monument  of  papal  taste  and 
pride,  was  nevertheless  almost  the  undoing  of  the  pa- 
pacy itself.  Rome  was  full  of  ancient  ruins  and  mod- 
ern splendor;  of  ancient  learning  and  modern  art;  of 


Luther  at  ll^iticnberg.  77 

ancient  faith  and  modern  skepticism,  and  of  ancient 
superstition  and  modern  renaissance.  Luther  saw  and 
felt  much  of  all  this,  and  went  away  from  the  famous 
and  infamous  city  with  mingled  impressions  and  mem- 
ories which  lingered  painfully  and  pleasantly  through 
all  his  after  days. 

Turning  his  face  to  the  north,  he  and  his  compan- 
ions retraced  the  long  road  over  the  sunny  plains  of 
Italy,  the  dizzy  heights  of  the  Alps,  and  the  wooded 
hills  of  Southern  Germany,  and  were  once  more  at 
home  in  the  Fatherland.  And  once  more  he  took  up 
his  duties  at  Wittenherg,  a  wiser  man  than  when  he 
went  away  and,  mayhap,  a  sadder  one. 

It  was  providential  that  Luther  did  not  visit  Rome 
earlier  in  his  life.  As  sincere  as  the  sunlight,  with  a 
will  that  never  halted  halfway  in  its  pursuit  of  an  un- 
dertaking, with  an  energy  that  was  dynamic,  he  might 
have  made  a  blaspheming  Voltaire  or  a  fanatical  Igna- 
tius Loyola;  he  could  never  have  made  a  hypocrite. 
The  deeper  spiritual  knowledge  that  had  come  to  him 
a  few  years  before  had  taught  him  that  rites  and  forms 
were  but  accessories  to  faith,  and  not  essentials  of 
faith ;  and,  learning  this,  the  mockeries  of  Italian  priests 
and  the  hollow  pretenses  of  Romish  popes  did  not  dis- 
turb his  faith  in  the  everlasting  Word  of  God.  The 
leaves  were  shaken  and  some  dead  branches  fell  off,  but 
the  tree  stood  firm. 

Meantime  the  age  was  preparing  for  the  man,  and 
the  man  was  preparing  for  the  age.  And  the  Lord  of 
the  age  and  of  the  man  was  waiting  and  ruling  and 
overrulinor  ^ntil  the  fullness  of  time  should  come. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
Luther  and  His  Age. 

Martin  Luther  was  no  mere  opportunist;  neither 
was  he  the  product  of  his  times.  Of  course  the  spirit 
of  his  age — that  spirit  of  restless,  reckless  adventure 
and  discovery;  of  rebellion  against  the  established  or- 
der of  things  and  of  resistance  to  the  tyranny  of  pope 
and  priest  and  prince  which  was  abroad  in  the  Western 
nations  in  the  closing  decade  of  the  fifteenth  and  the 
opening  years  of  the  sixteenth  century — thrilled  this 
man  of  destiny  and  stirred  him  to  action.  And  of 
course  the  idolatrous  degeneracy  of  the  Church,  its 
profanation  of  the  most  sacred  things  and  its  prosti- 
tution of  the  faith  and  conscience  of  its  helpless  and 
credulous  dupes  for  the  sake  of  its  own  sordid  and 
selfish  ends,  appealed  mightily  to  the  honest  soul  of 
Martin  Luther  and  gave  direction  to  his  convictions 
and  to  his  course.  But  he  was  not  the  creature  of  his 
environments,  nor  the  selfish  politician  who  seeks  to 
foment  social  and  civil  disorder  for  his  own  advance- 
ment to  place  and  power.  Nor  was  this  great-souled 
man  in  any  sense  the  spiritual  offspring  of  Rome.  Such 
a  mother  would  have  spurned  such  a  son  from  her 
breast.  Indeed,  she  was  honest  enough  to  disclaim  and 
disinherit  him;  and  since  she  claimed  to  be  the  only 
mother  of  the  children  of  the  Lord,  she  denounced 
Luther  as  a  child  of  the  devil. 

But  this  was  a  wonderful  age,  this  age  in  which 
Martin  Luther  was  born  and  lived  and  labored,  and 

(78) 


Luther  and  His  Age.  yg 

upon  which  he  left  his  impress  so  deeply.  It  was  the 
age  of  increasing  light.  The  day  was  breaking.  For 
a  thousand  years  there  had  been  twilight — not  the 
short  twilight  of  the  tropics,  but  the  twilight  of  north- 
ern latitudes,  which  is  neither  night  nor  day.  Men 
slept  or  were  half  awake  or  walked  in  their  sleep. 
Men  saw  ghosts.  Faith  degenerated  into  superstition. 
The  Church  of  Rome,  like  many  another  silly  mother, 
told  her  credulous  children  stories  of  witches  and 
ghosts  and  wicked  beings  in  other  ages,  and  thus 
hushed  into  a  troubled  sleep  her  devotees,  or  moved 
them  to  bloody  and  hopeless  warfare  against  the  in- 
vaders of  the  holy  land  and  other  wicked  heretics.  The 
lurid  glare  of  a  martyr's  bonfire  frequently  illumined 
the  darkness  for  a  season,  and,  going  out,  left  the 
world  in  deeper  darkness  than  before.  Men's  worst 
passions  ran  riot.  They  thirsted  for  each  other's  blood, 
or  gloried  in  the  triumphs  of  wars  of  conquest.  Na- 
tions rose  and  fell.  Western  Europe  was  one  great 
battlefield.  The  hordes  of  Northern  Europe  had  laid 
waste  the  fair  fields  of  Italy,  overthrown  the  power 
of  the  Roman  Empire  in  the  West,  and  had  then 
fallen  to  quarreling  among  themselves  over  the  spoils 
of  their  conquests.  Northern  and  Southern  blood 
mingled  and  made  new  races.  The  Italian  and  Ger- 
man, the  Goth  and  the  Gaul,  the  Norman  and  the 
Briton,  the  ancient  Spaniard  and  the  fair-haired  den- 
izens of  the  far  North  were  no  longer  alien  peoples 
to  each  other.  Charlemagne  built  an  empire  that 
for  a  time  rivaled  the  imperial  splendor  of  ancient 
Rome.     The  German  Empire,  to  which  Charles  V., 


8o  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

the  grandson  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  succeeded 
Maximilian  about  the  time  that  Luther  had  stirred  all 
Europe  with  his  theses,  was  the  only  remaining  part 
of  this  ancient  kingdom  at  the  beginn^ing  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  Knight-errantry  had  served  its  ro- 
mantic and  chivalrous  mission.  The  Crusades  had 
given  a  sacred  outlet  for  men's  warlike  passions.  The 
Turk,  after  a  temporary  expulsion,  had  once  more  oc- 
cupied the  holy  city,  and  Constantinople,  the  last  re- 
maining stronghold  of  the  waning  power  of  Rome,  had 
been  overthrown  by  these  insatiate  and  fanatical  con- 
querors. And  the  Turk  was  at  the  very  gates  of  Vi- 
enna and  threatening  the  very  life  of  Western  Europe. 
The  Moors,  after  many  years  of  power  in  Spain,  had 
been  driven  by  Ferdinand,  at  the  head  of  the  united 
armies  of  Castile  and  Aragon,  across  the  Straits  of 
Gibraltar,  or  made  slaves  in  the  lands  of  their  former 
possession  and  power.  Spain  had  been  welded  into 
unity  by  the  marriage  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 
Britain,  conquered  in  turn  by  Roman,  Saxon,  Dane, 
and  Norman,  had  incorporated  into  its  people  and  its 
national  life  that  which  was  best  in  the  character  of  its 
several  masters,  and  was  itself  rising  to  the  mastery 
of  an  empire  that  would  rival  in  strength  and  duration 
all  the  empires  of  all  the  ages.  France,  after  many 
vicissitudes,  was  strong,  with  the  restless,  irresistible 
spirit  of  ancient  Gaul.  Germany,  always  loving  liberty 
and  never  long  a  conquered  land,  did  not  lose  its  na- 
tional characteristics  by  reason  of  its  merging,  at  its 
own  instance,  into  the  great  empire  over  which  Charles 
V.  had  been  selected  to  reign — an  empire  which  swept 


Lutlicr  and  His  Age.  8i 

from  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  on  the  south  to 
the  Baltic  on  the  north,  with  only  the  coast  of  Portu- 
gal and  France  breaking  the  continuity  of  its  sea- 
shore. The  map  of  modern  Europe  was  beginning  to 
take  shape.  Confusion  was  giving  place  to  order, 
chaos  to  cosmos. 

There  is  a  never-failing  charm  about  the  Middle 
Ages.  To  them  the  imagination  turns  again  and  again. 
It  was  a  time  when  men  made  more  poetry  than  they 
wrote.  Mystery,  uncertainty,  half-knowledge — these 
elements  of  the  poetic  and  romantic  inspired  and  lim- 
ited men's  actions  in  these  dark  centuries,  and  these 
same  elements  attract  us  to  that  half-known  period  with 
a  fascination  which  is  a  blending  of  uncertainty  and 
curiosity.  Knowing  a  better  day,  we  are  glad  that  we 
did  not  live  a  thousand  years  ago ;  and  yet  the  con- 
dition of  the  world  ten  centuries  ago  appeals  to  us  with 
all  the  power  of  a  half- forgotten  past,  of  days  long 
gone,  and  of  men  who  once  lived  and  loved,  and  suf- 
fered and  died,  and  whose  memory  is  like  the  dream- 
ing visions  of  the  night  season. 

The  awakening,  long  delayed,  came  at  last.  A  nota- 
ble change  came  on  during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries,  and  it  came  rapidly.  Within  a  hundred  years 
men  made  more  progress  in  arts  and  learning,  and  in 
every  department  of  life,  than  they  had  made  in  a 
thousand  years.  It  was  a  time  of  invention,  of  dis- 
covery, and  of  progress. 

The  old  story  that  Edward  III.  used  gunpowder 
the  first  time  it  was  ever  used  in  Euroj^e,  in  the  battle 
of  Crecy,  may  not  be  accurate,  but  it  was  about  this 
6 


82  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

time  that  men  began  to  appreciate  the  possibilities  of 
this  combination  of  sulphur,  saltpeter,  and  charcoal. 
The  Greeks  doubtless  knew  something  of  it,  the  Chi- 
nese certainly  were  acquainted  with  it  long  before  this ; 
but  it  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  European  dis- 
covery, made  by  Friar  Bacon,  or  some  one  else,  during 
the  fourteenth  century.  And,  as  paradoxical  as  it  may 
seem,  the  discovery  of  gunpowder  lessened  the  hor- 
rors of  war,  and  was  in  the  interest  of  liberty  and  hu- 
manity. With  its  use  decisive  battles  were  fought 
with  less  slaughter  of  life,  and  the  mailed  knight  could 
no  longer  strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of  scores  of  his 
enemies. 

The  mariner's  compass  became  known  to  Western 
Europe  about  this  period.  As  in  the  case  of  printing 
and  gunpowder,  the  compass  had  been  in  use  in  China 
many  centuries  before  this  period.  But  unfortunately 
for  the  Chinese,  they  have  been  slow  to  acquaint  other 
nations  with  their  inventions  and  discoveries,  as  well 
as  slow  in  accepting  the  inventions  and  discoveries  of 
other  nations.  There  is  at  least  a  probability  that  the 
use  of  the  compass  was  among  the  treasures  of  knowl- 
edge brought  back  from  China  by  Marco  Polo,  that 
pioneer  traveler  in  the  Far  East,  whose  career  was  a 
real  romance. 

The  use  of  the  mariner's  compass  revolutionized 
navigation.  The  ships  men  build  and  the  commerce 
they  carry  on  in  those  ships  have  always  been  among 
the  real  tests  of  a  nation's  greatness.  The  Phenicians 
had  been  the  navigators  and  discoverers  of  ancient 
times.      Their    ships    had    plowed    well-nigh    every 


Luther  and  His  Age.  83 

square  mile  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  Ihcy  had 
ventured  outside  its  waters  into  the  broader  expanses 
of  the  Atlantic.  But  with  their  passing  the  bold  spirit 
of  maritime  adventure  also  passed.  The  bold  Vikings 
of  the  Far  North  roamed  the  seas  for  booty,  rav- 
aged the  fair  shores  of  Southern  Europe,  and  pushed 
their  adventurous  prows  across  the  Atlantic.  But 
they  added  nothing  to  the  world's  knowledge  and  noth- 
ing to  its  civilization.  Men  dreamed  of  a  fair  At- 
lantis beyond  the  sea,  but  none  were  courageous  enough 
to  brave  the  perils  of  the  great  ocean  to  find  it. 

But  with  the  compass,  later  the  quadrant,  and  finally 
the  chronometer,  the  great  Atlantic,  the  far-oflf  Pa- 
cific, and  the  tropic  seas  that  laved  the  shores  of  dis- 
tant India  and  China  were  no  longer  to  terrify  timid 
and  ignorant  men,  but  were  to  unlock  their  secrets  and 
their  treasures  to  adventurers  in  search  of  wealth  and 
discoverers  in  search  of  knowledge.  The  Portuguese 
found  their  way  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope; 
Christopher  Columbus,  the  Italian,  with  three  small 
vessels  under  the  Spanish  flag,  sailed  across  the  At- 
lantic in  1492  and  discovered  America;  and  all  Eu- 
rope woke  up  to  the  fact  that  the  world  was  larger 
than  it  had  been  dreamed  of  before.  The  discovery 
of  the  New  World  made  a  new  world  out  of  the  Old 
World.  After  this  men  could  never  be  the  same.  The 
lethargy  of  the  centuries  was  gone,  the  sleep  of  ages 
was  past.  Men  were  as  much  startled  as  they  would 
have  been  if  the  sun  had  flashed  his  first  rays  from 
the  west  instead  of  the  east.  Indeed,  the  day  had  come 
to  the  West,  if  not  from  the  west. 


84  A  Life  of  Martin  Lutheu 

The  discovery  of  America  was,  like  other  discov- 
eries in  this  age  of  marvelous  transition,  mightily  con- 
ducive to  a  larger  humanity  as  well  as  to  a  larger 
world.  Many  who  crossed  the  Atlantic  came  only  to 
rob  and  to  murder  and  thus  to  enrich  themselves  with 
ill-gotten  gold.  But  the  God  of  all  the  earth  over- 
ruled their  covetousness  and  made  them  nation  build- 
ers. And  so  through  succeeding  centuries  light  has 
shone  back  from  the  New  World  upon  the  Old  World. 

About  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  came  pos- 
sibly the  greatest  invention  of  that  or  any  other  age. 
This  was  the  art  of  printing.  It  is  not  material  as  to 
who  the  real  inventor  was.  The  Dutch  claim  that  the 
honor  belongs  to  Laurens  Coster ;  the  Germans  assert 
the  rival  claims  of  their  countryman,  John  Gutenberg. 
Possibly  both  the  German  and  the  Hollander  were  in- 
dependent and  original  inventors  of  the  art. 

It  is  impossible  to  measure  and  weigh  the  influence 
of  the  printing  press.  Think  for  a  moment  what  the 
world  was  before  the  days  of  printing.  There  were  no 
books  except  those  that  were  written  by  hand.  Bound 
volumes  were  rare,  libraries  rarer  still,  and  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  lived  and  died  without  ever  see- 
ing a  book.  And  newspapers  were  unknown.  A  fam- 
ily Bible,  even  if  the  Church  of  Rome  had  allowed  the 
people  access  to  the  Word  of  God,  would  have  been  an 
impossible  privilege  to  a  poor  man.  But  the  evolution 
and  revolution  of  this  age  of  change  and  progress,  so 
wonderful  then,  and  more  wonderful  now,  left  as  a 
part  of  its  heritage  to  succeeding  ages  an  invention 
that  has   transformed   the  world.     While  the   art   of 


Luther  and  His  Age.  85 

printing  met  the  need  of  the  centuries,  it  made  impera- 
tive the  need  of  the  age  of  its  invention  for  that  moral 
and  spiritual  reformation  which  even  then  was  find- 
ing its  first  foretokens  in  the  lands  where  the  first 
books,  one  of  them  a  Bible,  came  from  the  rude  press 
of  those  early  times. 

The  invention  of  printing  gave  a  mighty  impulse  to 
the  revival  of  learning  that  had  already  begun — first 
in  Italy,  where  centuries  before  the  lamp  of  learning 
had  gone  out,  and  later  still  throughout  Western  Eu- 
rope. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  Middle  Ages  were 
utterly  destitute  of  learning  and  of  scholars.  On  the 
contrary,  there  were  many  learned  men  among  the 
priests  and  monks  of  those  long  centuries.  The 
Church  had  been  a  jealous  guardian  of  learning.  And 
long  before  the  period  we  are  considering  many  uni- 
versities had  been  founded  in  the  different  countries  of 
Western  Europe. 

The  university  (it  was  called  studhim  generate  at 
first)  seems  to  have  had  its  origin  first  in  France,  and, 
like  the  schools  of  ancient  Athens,  had  its  beginnings  in 
a  nucleus  of  students  who  rallied  around  some  noted 
scholar.  Later  Italy,  afterwards  England  and  Ger- 
many, and  finally  Spain,  established  these  schools  of 
largest  scope,  and  many  of  them  were  ancient  institu- 
tions in  the  days  of  Martin  Luther. 

But  the  scholarship  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  itself 
narrow.  Its  horizon  was  fixed  by  the  ipse  dixit  of  the 
pope.  The  Church  fostered  it  and  dominated  it.  Re- 
ligiously it  was  an  age  of  rites  and  rosaries,  of  masses 


86  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

and  missals,  of  ceremony  and  sacramentarlanism.  And 
the  learning  of  the  times  was  ruled  and  limited  by  the 
same  spirit  that  ruled  the  Church.  The  Schoolmen 
were  anxious  to  learn  only  that  which  others  had 
learned.  The  old  quite  satisfied  them.  With  them  the 
Ultima  Thule  of  scholastic  attainment  had  been 
reached.  Even  if  there  were  fields  of  undiscovered 
knowledge,  why  seek  to  explore  them?  The  Inquisi- 
tion awaited  the  propounder  of  a  new  theory  or  the 
finder  of  a  new  fact,  if  the  theory  or  the  fact  contra- 
vened the  accepted  theories  of  Rome.  The  authority 
that  pronounced  the  Copernican  system  heresy  in  after 
times  had  no  strong  Protestant  opposition  to  contend 
with  in  those  benighted  centuries.  Its  dictum  was 
absolute.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  its  schools 
and  its  scholars  of  great  learning  in  many  lands  to-day, 
but  these  schools  and  scholars  owe  an  unacknowledged 
debt  to  Protestantism  for  breaking  off  the  fetters  with 
which  ancient  Romanism  bound  its  scholars  and  its 
schools.  Of  course  the  Schoolmen  of  the  Middle  Ages 
were  not  satisfied  with  the  mere  possession  of  what  they 
knew;  so  they  played  hide  and  seek  with  the  abstrusi- 
ties of  metaphysics,  rang  out  the  changes  on  the  major 
and  minor  premises,  and  flattered  their  pride  by  knock- 
ing down  imaginary  windmills.  A  scholarship  that 
honored  the  astrologer  but  tortured  the  astronomer; 
that  was  ready  to  accept  the  gold  of  the  alchemist,  if 
he  had  ever  found  any,  but  was  ready  to  consider  the 
discoveries  of  chemistry  as  the  revelations  of  the  devil ; 
and  that  believed  all  the  absurdities  of  witchcraft  but 
refused  to  accept  the  Bible  rather  than  the  deliver- 


Luther  and  His  Age.  87 

ances  of  popes  and  councils — such  a  scholarship  could 
bring  little  good  to  the  scholar  and  less  to  his  contem- 
poraries. 

The  final  overthrow  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks 
in  1453  led  to  consequences  quite  outside  the  purpose 
of  those  greedy  conquerors.  Unwittingly  they  were 
helping  to  build  up  a  civilization  in  the  West  which 
would  ultimately  overthrow  their  power  in  the  East. 
This  consummation  has  not  yet  come,  but  the  Turk 
holds  his  place  in  Europe  to-day  by  the  sufferance  of 
the  very  nations  which  centuries  ago  his  ancestors 
sought  to  drive  from  their  native  lands,  and  by  fol- 
lowers of  the  very  religion  which  Mohammed  sought 
to  crush. 

Many  refugees  from  Constantinople  sought  a  home 
in  the  West,  and  most  of  them  settled  in  Italy.  They 
brought  with  them  a  knowledge  of  the  ancient  Greek 
tongue.  Rome  had  made  the  Latin  tongue  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Church,  also  the  language  of  the  schools. 
Practically  everything  in  the  way  of  literature  that 
was  written  for  a  thousand  years  was  written  in 
Latin.  This  had  its  advantages,  and  also  it  disad- 
vantages. It  gave  all  scholars  access  to  all  the  litera- 
ture of  the  several  countries  of  Europe,  but  in  turn  re- 
strained men  from  writing  real  literature.  This  is 
usually  written  in  one's  native  tongue.  The  real  liter- 
ature of  modern  times  began  to  be  written  when  Dante 
and  Petrarch  and  Boccaccio  began  to  write  in  Italian. 
and  Rabelais  began  to  write  in  French,  and  Chau- 
cer began  to  write  in  English.    Gothe  could  not  liave 


88  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

written  "Faust"  in  English;  Shakespeare  could  not 
have  written  "Hamlet"  in  German,  and  neither  could 
have  produced  his  masterpiece  in  Latin. 

The  new  learning,  for  such  it  was  to  Western  Eu- 
rope, spread  from  Italy  to  all  the  nations  adjacent,  to 
Germany  also,  and  to  England  as  well.  Its  coming  pro- 
duced a  freedom  of  thought  and  investigation  that 
broke  away  from  the  old  landmarks  of  faith  and 
thought;  and  by  reason  of  its  very  freedom  it  was 
calculated  to  turn  men's  resentment  and  rejection  of 
the  errors  of  Rome  into  disgust  with  all  religion.  Leo 
X.  was  a  patron  of  the  new  learning,  and  he  is  cred- 
ited with  saying  that  "Christianity  is  a  profitable 
fable." 

The  age  called  aloud  for  the  saving  power  of  the 
gospel.  The  nations  needed  the  lesson  of  the  golden 
rule.  Discoverers  going  forth  to  add  new  continents 
to  the  knowledge  of  men  needed  to  carry  with  them 
the  knowledge  of  the  true  God,  that  they  might  impart 
that  knowledge  to  heathen  nations,  and  not  the  semi- 
paganism  which  substituted  the  worship  of  Roman 
images  and  saints  for  the  worship  of  wooden  idols 
or  the  worship  of  the  sun.  Gutenberg  and  Caster  and 
their  successors  needed  the  whole  truth  of  the  divine 
Word  in  order  that  they  might  appreciate  the  printing 
press's  wondrous  power  for  good  as  well  as  for  evil. 

Macaulay  expresses  the  opinion  that  the  religion  of 
the  Middle  Ages  was  better  adapted  than  any  other 
to  the  people  of  those  times ;  that  the  rule  of  the  popes 
was  better  than  the  rule  of  the  cruel  and  unscrupulous 
kings  and  princes ;  and  that  the  monastic  life  afforded  a 


Luther  and  His  Age.  89 

needed  retreat  for  scholars  and  monasteries  a  safe  de- 
pository for  the  htcraturc  of  the  earher  times.  This 
view  may  be  accepted  without  lessening  the  force  of 
our  contention  that  a  reformation  was  essential  to  the 
very  life  of  the  Church  and  to  the  perpetuity  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

The  times  had  changed.  The  mind  of  the  age  was 
alive  and  alert.  Men  were  thinking,  and  every  thought 
was  a  question.  The  old  wine  skins  were  ready  to 
burst.  The  new  wine  could  not  be  poured  into  them 
with  safety.  To  meet  interrogation  with  denuncia- 
tion, to  answer  a  question  as  to  faith  with  a  so-called 
infallible  dogma  of  a  general  council  or  a  papal  bull, 
to  burn  Wyclif's  Bibles  and  John  Huss's  body — these 
were  not  the  arguments  that  could  satisfy  the  awakened 
mind  of  this  awakened  age  or  meet  the  quest  of 
honest  men  who  longed  to  know  the  way  of  life  more 
perfectly. 

But  Rome  did  not  know  the  times.  With  the  blind- 
ness of  Rehoboam  and  the  madness  of  Pharaoh  she 
refused  to  yield  to  the  inevitable.  Leo  laughed  at  the 
trouble  over  the  indulgences,  and  said  it  was  ''just  a 
squabble  among  the  monks."  And  as  if  all  this  was 
not  enough,  Rome  added  sin  to  folly.  The  fifteenth 
century,  according  to  the  testimony  of  all  the  author- 
ities, was  the  darkest  period  in  the  history-  of  the 
papacy.  It  was  the  age  of  the  Borgias,  and  every  re- 
spectable historian  blushes  as  he  records  the  doings 
of  these  human  monsters.  No  wonder  Martin  Luther 
had  not  the  slightest  hesitation  in  calling  the  pope  anti- 
christ and  found  a  literal  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy 


90  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

in  the  second  chapter  of  First  Thessalonians  in  the  pre- 
tensions of  the  pope,  and  saw  the  scarlet-robed  ''mother 
of  harlots"  in  the  Romish  hierarchy. 

The  Reformation  must  come,  and  did  come.  And 
it  was  fit  that  it  should  find  its  earliest  tangible  mani- 
festation in  Germany.  A  thousand  years  before  this 
the  Germans  had  trodden  under  foot  the  power  of 
ancient  Rome.  And  Germany  had  never  corrupted 
Christianity.  Her  people  had  accepted  it  as  it  had  been 
brought  to  them.  And  Martin  Luther  w^as  a  German, 
honest,  pure-blooded,  and,  like  his  Lord,  one  of  the 
common  people. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
Luther  the  Preacher. 

There  are  epoch-marking  and  epoch-making  events 
in  the  lives  of  individuals.  There  are  such  events  in 
the  history  of  nations;  and  in  the  annals  of  the  race 
there  have  been  days  of  destiny,  after  which  the 
world  was  never  the  same  as  before.  These  crises 
are  not  always  days;  sometimes  they  are  but  mo- 
ments. Sometimes  they  cover  a  series  of  events; 
often  they  are  determined  by  a  single  act. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  find  the  epochs  in  Luther's  life; 
and  since  his  life  affected  so  many  other  lives,  it  is 
not  difficult  to  name  in  his  history  some  of  the  great 
events  in  modern  history.  His  visit  to  Rome  was 
one  of  the  pivotal  facts  in  his  life.  He  went  to  Rome 
a  devout  Catholic;  he  came  away  from  there  with  less 
faith  in  Romanism,  but  with  more  faith  in  the  Bible. 
In  speaking  of  the  matter  afterwards,  he  said  that 
the  nearer  one  approached  Rome,  the  sorrier  Chris- 
tians he  found.  It  was  a  popular  saying,  he  adds, 
that  w^hen  a  man  went  to  Rome  the  first  time  he 
went  in  search  of  a  knave,  on  his  second  visit  he  found 
him,  and  on  his  third  visit  he  brought  the  knave  away 
with  him  under  his  own  clothes.  Lately,  however, 
men  had  become  so  clever  that  they  brought  the  knave 
away  with  them  the  first  time  they  went. 

Luther  did  not  return  to  Germany  a  knave  or  a 
skeptic,  but  he  came  back  to  his  native  land  with  a 
better   understanding   of    that    wonderful   passage    in 

(90 


92  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

Romans,  "The  just  shall  live  by  faith,"  which  he  de- 
clared had  been  to  him  the  gate  to  Paradise.  The 
doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith  was  henceforth  to  be 
the  thought  of  his  life,  the  theme  of  his  preaching, 
and  the  sum  of  his  theology.  At  last  he  was  finding 
that  other  fact  in  the  gospel — men  have  a  Saviour. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  Luther  became  a 
Doctor  of  Theology  in  15 12.  This  was  no  mere  hon- 
orary degree  such  as  colleges  confer  upon  preachers 
these  days.  The  Doctors  of  Divinity  in  those  times 
studied  for  their  degree,  and  were  expected  to  be 
real  teachers  of  divinity. 

Luther  did  not  seek  this  degree  on  his  own  motion. 
His  friend  Staupitz  urged  it  upon  him.  He  used  to 
point  out  a  pear  tree  in  the  courtyard  of  the  monastery 
where  he  and  Staupitz  discussed  the  matter.  He  had 
been  made  subprior  of  his  monastery,  and  it  was  his 
wish  to  give  his  whole  attention  to  the  duties  of  this 
position.  Staupitz  insisted  that  there  was  work  to  do 
in  the  Church  that  required  young  and  strong  men. 
Luther  demurred  upon  the  alleged  ground  that  he 
was  not  strong  in  health  and  would  not  live  long. 
Staupitz  refused  to  accept  this.  Luther  declared  that 
he  was  too  poor  to  meet  the  necessary  expense.  Stau- 
pitz answered  that  the  elector  would  furnish  the 
money.  Luther  still  objecting,  Staupitz  met  his  re- 
luctance by  declaring  that  it  was  Luther's  duty  to  do 
what  Staupitz,  his  vicar-general,  commanded.  Luther 
always  honored  authority,  and  this  last  reason  had  a 
determining  weight  with  him.  He  declared  after- 
wards, in  some  of  the  troublous  days  that  came  to  him, 


Luther  the  Preacher.  93 

that  if  he  had  known  what  was  before  him  in  conse- 
quence of  this  step,  not  ten  horses  could  have  dragged 
him  into  it. 

Evidently  Luther  considered  this  doctor's  degree 
as  carrying  with  it  more  responsible  duties  than  any 
he  had  assumed  up  to  this  time,  though  to  us  it  would 
seem  merely  a  fuller  commitment  of  himself  to  work 
that  he  had  already  done  in  some  sort  before  this. 
His  hesitation  in  the  matter  did  him  no  discredit,  and 
by  it  he  did  not  intentionally  dishonor  God.  His 
quest  for  personal  salvation  had  carried  him  into  the 
monastic  life ;  this  step  made  him  an  officially  author- 
ized teacher  of  the  way  of  salvation  to  others.  From 
this  place  and  work  he  drew  back,  not  in  rebellion, 
but  because  of  a  sense  of  unworthiness.  It  was  the 
same  spirit  that  made  the  prophet  of  old  cry,  "I  am 
a  man  of  unclean  lips !"  and  that  made  Peter  say  to 
the  Master:  ''Depart  from  me;  for  I  am  a  sinful  man, 
O  Lord."  In  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  men  seek 
the  office;  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  the  office  seeks 
the  man. 

The  interest  Staupitz  took  in  Luther  is  pathetic. 
The  old  vicar-general  appreciated  the  worth  and  work 
of  the  young  Saxon,  and  guided  his  faltering  foot- 
steps in  the  right  way.  But  he  could  not  follow  his 
pupil  in  that  way ;  the  old  faith  was  too  strong  on  the 
old  man.  He  went  at  last  and  ended  his  days  in  a 
convent.  The  fire  he  had  unwittingly  helped  to  kindle 
burned  too  brightly  for  his  aged  eyes. 

It  was  in  October,  1512,  that  Luther  received  liis 
doctor's  degree.     He  hesitated  beforehand;  but  when 


94  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

the  decision  was  past,  all  hesitation  was  gone.  Among 
the  solemn  pledges  he  took  when  he  received  his  de- 
gree was  one  to  defend  the  gospel  with  all  his  strength. 
The  character  of  a  vow  depends  always  upon  the 
character  of  the  man  who  takes  it.  Others  had  taken 
this  vow.  To  some  of  them  it  meant  simply  a  solemn 
formality:  to  Luther  it  meant  an  obligation  which 
ultimately  made  him  the  great  reformer.  In  after 
times,  when  justifying  his  course  in  protesting  against 
the  errors  of  Romanism,  he  referred  to  the  oath  he 
had  taken  upon  the  Bible  itself  to  defend  it  from  all  its 
foes. 

The  next  five  years  of  Luther's  life  were  full  of 
work.  He  instructed  the  monks  in  his  monastery,  he 
preached  to  the  students,  to  the  townspeople,  and  to 
the  monks,  and  he  lectured  the  classes  on  theology. 
He  studied  diligently,  and  gave  the  tremendous  en- 
ergies of  his  virile  nature  to  the  tasks  that  came  with 
the  days  and  the  seasons;  he  presented  soul  and  body 
a  living  sacrifice  to  his  Master  and  to  the  Church. 
These  years  were  the  last  stage  of  his  preparation  for 
the  work  that  was  to  mark  his  life  as  one  of  the  great 
lives  in  the  world's  history. 

His  lectures  and  sermons  attracted  wide  attention. 
There  was  novelty  in  them.  It  was  not  the  novelty 
of  new  truth,  but  the  novelty  of  the  old  truths,  long 
forgotten.  He  turned  away  from  the  methods  and 
platitudes  of  the  Schoolmen.  He  called  no  man  master. 
The  Word  of  God  was  his  inspiration  and  his  au- 
thority. He  called  the  Church  back  to  the  Bible. 
This  was  the  foundation  and  stronghold  of  his  faith. 


Luther  the  Preacher.  ne 

He  sought  to  make  it  the  faith  of  others.  He  had 
seen  the  Light,  he  had  heard  the  Voice:  followins- 
these,  the  way  grew  brighter  and  broader  as  he  went 
onward. 

Luther  began  his  first  lecture  on  the  Psahris ;  and 
some  of  his  earhest  expositions  are  still  preserved  in 
manuscript.  These  first  comments  were  crude,  and 
show  how  much  he  learned  in  the  course  of  time  as 
he  went  on  with  his  studies  and  lectures.  Like  the 
early  fathers  of  the  Church,  he  was  disposed  to  give 
a  spiritual  interpretation  to  even  the  least  important 
passage  in  the  Songs  of  David  and  the  other  sacred 
poets.  He  found,  or  sought  to  find,  Christ  every- 
where. This  method  of  interpeting  the  Psalms,  and 
especially  some  of  the  other  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, has  led  to  some  things  that  are  so  grotesque 
as  interpretations  that  men  of  sense  ought  at  once  to 
have  seen  their  absurdity.  Luther  learned  better  as 
he  went  on.  Later  he  turned  his  attention  to  the 
epistles  of  the  New  Testament,  especially  Romans 
and  Galatians.  This  last  book  became  his  lifelong 
favorite.  He  called  it  his  Katharina  Von  Bora.  His 
commentary  on  this  epistle,  which  was  the  outgrowth 
of  his  lectures,  is  one  of  the  classics  of  the  Church. 
And  his  commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans 
bore  fruit  centuries  afterwards  in  its  influence  over  a 
life  that  was  little  less  epochal  than  his  own. 

On  the  24th  of  May,  1738,  John  Wesley,  almost 
heartbroken  because  of  a  sense  of  sin,  went  to  a  little 
^[oravian  meeting  late  at  night.  In  this  little  gather- 
ing some  one,  whose  name  is  not  recorded,  read  from 


96  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

Luther's  preface  to  the  book  of  Romans.  As  the 
reader  read  Luther's  words  about  the  nature  of  faith, 
and  its  necessity  as  the  only  condition  of  salvation, 
Wesley  listened  and  wondered ;  and  he  tells  us  his 
experience  in  these  memorable  words :  *'I  felt  my 
heart  strangely  warmed.  I  felt  I  did  trust  in  Christ, 
Christ  alone,  for  salvation;  and  an  assurance  was 
given  me  that  he  had  taken  away  my  sins,  even  mine, 
and  saved  me  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death,  and  I 
testified  openly  to  all  there  what  I  then  first  felt  in  my 
heart." 

And  so  the  great  reformer  led  the  great  revivalist  to 
the  understanding  of  the  doctrine  of  justification  by 
faith,  and  to  an  experience  he  himself  had  obtained 
two  centuries  before.  And  the  two  being  dead,  yet 
speak.  And  thus  this  doctrine,  the  despair  of  the 
Pharisee,  the  puzzle  of  the  formalist,  and  the  joy  of 
the  children  of  God,  was  the  key  that  opened  the 
kingdom  to  Paul  the  apostle,  Luther  the  reformer,  and 
Wesley  the  revivalist. 

Luther's  preaching  and  lectures  clarified  and  crystal- 
lized his  convictions.  It  is  one  thing  to  know  divine 
things  by  experience;  it  is  another  thing  to  be  able  so 
to  formulate  these  truths  as  to  impart  them  to  others. 
Luther  knew  by  experience,  as  well  as  by  the  Bible, 
that  men  are  saved  by  faith  and  faith  alone.  With 
this  truth  as  a  starting  point,  he  went  out  in  search  of 
all  other  truths  that  helped  to  establish  this  cardinal 
doctrine  of  his  creed  and  his  experience.  And  he  was 
quite  prepared  to  reject  everything  as  utterly  false  that 
in  the  least,  by  implication  or  inference,  contradicted 


Luther  the  Preacher,  97 

this  doctrine.  He  sought  to  understand  and  explain 
the  nature  of  the  law  on  one  hand,  and  grace  on  the 
other.  He  soon  saw  that  law  is  inflexible.  It  docs 
not  and  cannot,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  make 
provision  for  pardon;  its  demand  is  for  perfect  obe- 
dience. Violation  of  one  law  cannot  be  atoned  for  by 
obedience  to  another  law.  Violation  at  one  time  can- 
not be  expiated  by  obedience  at  another  time.  Viola- 
tion of  the  law  of  God  by  one  individual  cannot  be 
met  by  the  obedience  of  another  individual.  Since  all 
men  have  violated  the  moral  law  as  well  as  the  law 
of  love,  and  since  men  cannot  naturally  keep  the  law 
of  God,  the  way  of  salvation  must  be  found  in  grace. 
Good  works  were  not  the  condition  of  justification; 
they  were  the  fruits  of  justification.  The  sinner  must 
be  justified  before  his  works  could  be  justified.  The 
tree  bore  the  fruit,  and  not  the  fruit  the  tree.  Christ 
died  for  men.  Faith  in  his  atoning  mercy  was  the  one 
essential  condition  of  salvation.  Luther,  as  we  have 
already  said,  was  much  influenced  in  his  beliefs  by 
the  writings  of  St.  Augustine,  but  he  did  not  follow 
the  teachings  of  the  old  father  in  a  blind,  unquestion- 
ing way. 

This  was  well.  If  Luther  had  accepted  all  that  St. 
Augustine  taught,  especially  with  reference  to  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  he  would  never  have 
been  the  great  reformer.  The  seeds  of  the  great  Ref- 
ormation were  not  in  Augustinianism.  Augustine 
taught  a  doctrine  of  justification  but  it  was  not  the  doc- 
trine of  St.  Paul  nor  of  Martin  Luther.  Augustine  be- 
lieved that  there  was  an  infusion  of  righteousness,  a 

7 


98  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

divine  impartation  of  worthiness,  before  the  sinner 
exercised  justifying  faith.  With  this  imparted  right- 
eousness the  sinner  could  not  only  believe,  he  could 
also  do  all  that  was  required,  and  even  more.  Accord- 
ing to  this  teaching,  there  was  no  righteousness  of 
faith,  but  rather  the  faith  of  righteousness.  The  sin- 
ner paid  his  debt  with  currency  freely  furnished  and 
stamped  as  genuine  by  the  divine  Creditor.  This  in- 
volved no  pardon  at  all ;  it  was  a  quid  pro  quo  trans- 
action. This  doctrine  involved,  at  least  logically,  sev- 
eral notions,  no  one  of  which  Luther  accepted  unre- 
servedly. 

Arhong  others  it  carried  with  it  the  doctrine  of  pre- 
destination. This  belief,  which  was  a  modified  form 
of  ancient  fatalism,  colored  Luther's  views  touching 
human  free  agency.  He  was  not  fully  prepared  to  ac- 
cept the  freedom  of  the  will  as  true.  But  his  own 
consciousness  of  sin  and  of  pardon,  and  his  deep  sense 
of  personal  responsibility,  did  not  allow  him  to  give 
such  adhesion  to  the  teachings  of  Augustine  on  this 
point  as  to  cause  him  to  give  it  a  conspicuous  place  in 
his  creed. 

The  belief  in  the  possibility  of  works  of  superer- 
ogation was  one  of  the  germs  of  Augustinism.  And 
the  germ  had  borne  abundant  fruit  in  Romanism.  Its 
harvest  had  added  greatly  to  the  spiritual  capital  of 
the  popes,  and  no  part  of  the  papal  assets  had  been 
more  profitable.  It  brought  ready  cash  in  the  market 
every  time  and  everywhere.  About  this  time  the  ex- 
igencies of  the  papacy  became  so  great  that  a  large 
stock  of  this  spiritual  commodity  was  oflfered  for  sale, 


Luther  the  Preacher.  v^^ 

and  at  a  price  that  was  so  reasonable  that  even  poor 
people  could  purchase  it.  It  was  also  offered  at  auction 
at  an  upset  price.  If  Luther  had  believed  this  particu- 
lar part  of  Augustine's  teachings,  he  might  have  had 
the  sale  of  indulgences  so  zealously  exploited  by  John 
Tetzcl  a  little  while  after  this ;  and  some  of  his  enemies, 
David  Hume  among  them,  have  asserted  that  the  rea- 
son for  his  indignation  against  the  indulgences  was 
anger,  forsooth,  that  he  and  his  order  were  not  al- 
lowed to  sell  them. 

Antinomianism  was  likewise  a  part  of  the  logic  of 
Augustine's  view  of  justification.  Luther  never  for 
one  moment  gave  credence  to  this  belief.  He  did  not 
understand  nor  teach  that  faith  is  a  substitute  for 
obedience  to  the  law  of  God ;  faith  he  regarded  as  the 
condition  of  pardon  for  disobedience.  He  believed 
that  guilt  grew  out  of  disobedience,  and  nothing  but 
pardon  could  remove  guilt.  This  pardon  was  offered 
to  men  through  the  grace  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ. 

In  the  following  words  Luther  tells  his  experience 

in  connection  with  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith  : 

Though  as  a  monk  I  was  holy  and  irreproachable,  my  con- 
science was  still  filled  with  troubles  and  torments.  I  could 
not  endure  the  expression,  "the  righteous  justice  of  God." 
I  did  not  love  the  just  and  holy  Being  who  punishes  sinners. 
I  felt  a  secret  rage  against  him.  I  hated  him  because,  not  sat- 
isfied with  torturing  by  his  law  and  the  miseries  of  life  poor 
sinners  already  ruined  by  original  sin,  he  aggravated  our 
sufferings  by  the  gospel.  But  when  by  the  Spirit  of  God  I 
understood  these  words  Ihe  refers  to  Romans  i.  17I.  when  I 
learned  that  the  justification  of  the  sinner  proceeds  from  the 
mercy  of  God  by  way  of  faith,  then  I  felt  myself  born  again 
as  a  new  man,  and  I  entered  by  an  opened  door  into  the  very 


loo  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

paradise  of  God.  From  that  hour  I  saw  the  precious  and 
holy  Scriptures  with  new  eyes.  I  went  through  the  whole 
Bible.  .  .  .  Truly  this  text  of  St.  Paul's  was  to  me  as  the 
very  gate  to  heaven. 

There  is  potential  martyrdom  in  a  conviction  and 
experience  like  this,  and  there  is  prophecy  in  it  as  w^ell. 
Whenever  the  Holy  Spirit  w^rites  a  truth  like  this  upon 
a  human  soul,  and  in  such  letters  as  those  w^ritten  upon 
Martin  Luther's  conscience,  he  serves  notice  by  the 
w^riting  that  the  man  must  stand  for  the  truth  thus 
written,  will  have  to  suffer  for  this  truth,  and  may 
have  to  die  for  it ;  and  no  man  is  prepared  to  go  forth 
as  a  soldier  of  the  King  who  is  not  armed  with  such 
convictions.  The  iron  had  entered  Luther's  soul.  The 
test  of  his  faith  and  his  fidelity  was  at  hand,  and  he 
did  not  waver.  The  honesty  of  soul  that  made  him  a 
monk  and  a  true  servant  of  the  Church,  under  a  Guid- 
ance to  which  he  had  never  been  disloyal,  was  soon 
to  find  for  him  the  full  meaning  of  the  experience  that 
had  come  to  him,  and  the  real  work  for  which  his  life 
from  his  childhood  up  had  been  but  a  preparation. 

But  Luther  did  not  know  all  this.  It  was  well  that 
he  did  not.  Such  knowledge  would  have  hindered  the 
preparation,  if  it  had  not  rendered  it  utterly  abortive. 
Luther  was  still  a  zealous  Romanist.  He  discarded 
and  denounced  many  of  the  silly  traditions  of  the 
Church,  rejected  the  invocation  of  saints  for  temporal 
blessings,  and  called  in  question  such  things  as  did  not 
commend  themselves  to  his  judgment  and  seemed  to 
contradict  his  cherished  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith. 
He  did  not  have  the  least  doubt  in  his  mind  as  to  the 


Luther  the  Preacher.  loi 

infallibility  of  the  Church.  The  scales  had  not  yet 
fallen  from  his  eyes.  He  had  not  yet  learned  that 
Romanism  is  not  founded  upon  the  Bible.  1  [e  believed 
in  the  Church  because  he  believed  in  the  Bible.  He 
was  ready  to  condemn  what  he  considered  as  the  here- 
sies of  the  martyr-reformer,  John  Huss.  He  used 
against  Huss  the  very  arguments  that  were  after- 
wards used  against  himself.  He  had  been  appointed 
vicar  of  the  Augustine  monasteries  in  Thuringia,  eleven 
in  number,  and  he  visited  these  regularly  in  his  of- 
ficial capacity.  Meanwhile  his  teachings  with  refer- 
ence to  salvation  by  faith  alone  were  making  no  small 
stir  among  the  German  scholars  and  ecclesiastics.  He 
modestly  called  it  Augustinianism,  but  it  was  really 
Protestantism.  MenjDf  learning  gave  him  their  friend- 
ship. George  Spalatin,  chajilain  to  the  elector,  and  who 
had  been  a  college  mate  at  Erfurt,  helped  to  gain  for  him 
the  favor  of  the  wise  Frederick.  John  Reuchlin,  the 
greatest  Hebrew  scholar  of  the  age  and  the  author  of 
the  first  grammar  of  the  Hebrew  language,  admired 
him,  and  to  him  Luther  was  much  indebted  for  pre- 
paring the  way  for  the  Reformation  by  what  he  wrote 
concerninp*  the  Rabbins.  And  Erasmus,  the  leader  of 
the  Humanists,  heard  of  him  and  appreciated  his 
worth  and  work. 

In  15 16  Martin  Luther  began  to  use  the  printing 
press  for  the  dissemination  of  his  teachings,  a  means 
he  found  mightily  helpful  in  his  after  work.  In  his 
reading  he  had  found  the  sermons  of  the  mystic 
Tauler,  who  lived  in  the  fourteenth  century.  These 
sermons,  like  other  things  he  read,  helped  him  ;  but 


102  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

the  man's  independence  of  thought  and  conviction 
saved  him  from  following  slavishly  this  man,  or  any 
other  man.  A  little  tract  by  Tauler,  which  Luuher 
called  ''The  German  Theology,"  was  the  first  publi- 
cation in  German  that  Luther  ever  gave  to  the  world 
to  which  was  attached  his  own  name.  A  little  while 
after  this  he  issued  a  commentary  on  the  seven  peni- 
tential Psalms.  This  was  really  the  first  of  his  own 
writings  to  see  the  light  through  the  medium  of  the 
printed  page.  His  own  experience  helped  him  to  ex- 
pound these  ancient  prayers. 

And  all  the  time  he  was  preaching  almost  every  day, 
and  often  thrice  a  day. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Luther's  Theses. 

The  year  15 17  had  come.  Martin  Luther  was  in  the 
prime  of  his  middle  manhood.  He  had  won  his  de- 
grees. He  had  gained  his  footing  in  tlie  world  of 
scholarship.  He  was  a  trusted  leader  of  the  Augustine 
order.  He  was  a  faithful  servant  of  the  Church.  He 
had  for  himself  settled  theoretically  and  experimentally 
the  fundamental  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith.  He 
had  helped  others  with  his  preaching,  and  some  havl 
died  in  peace  because  they  embraced  salvation  under 
his  instruction.  He  had  sown  the  seeds  of  the  great 
Reformation,  which,  like  thistledown,  had  been  borne 
upon  the  winds  to  unexpected  places.  Without  con- 
scious premonition  he  was  approaching  the  crisis  of 
his  life. 

The  sale  of  induls^ences  in  Germanv  aroused  him 
from  what  might  have  been  the  lifelong,  peaceful 
sleep  of  a  loyal  Romanist.  The  bellowing  of  the  monk 
Tetzel  startled  him  into  wakefulness. 

Leo  X.  had  succeeded  the  war-loving  Julius  upon 
the  papal  throne.  He  was  more  pacific  than  his  pred- 
ecessor, and  much  more  decent  than  Alexander.  He 
loved  learning,  encouraged  the  fine  arts,  and  was  in 
sympathy  with  the  advancing  enlightenment  of  the 
age.  But  he  was  at  heart  a  skeptic,  and  needed  money 
to  finish  St.  Peter's  Church.  Jesus  was  a  ''fable;"  he 
had  no  faith  in  him  himself.  Others  did.  however,  and 
he  would  turn  their  credulity  into  cash.     He  wished 

(X03) 


I04  ^"i  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

to  complete  St.  Peter's ;  it  would  be  a  monument  to 
Italian  art.  The  Church  had  taught  its  votaries  to  be- 
lieve in  popish  and  priestly  absolution ;  he  would  turn 
that  teaching  to  account.  He  would  sell  indulgences. 
It  would  be  really  more  humane  to  allow  poor  wretches 
who  believed  they  had  sinned  to  pay  a  sum  of  money, 
large  or  small,  according  to  their  means,  rather  than 
to  do  the  hard  penance  attached  to  priestly  absolution, 
or,  finally,  endure  the  pains  of  purgatory  throughout 
countless  ages.  And  so  money  would  flow  abundantly 
into  the  papal  treasury,  and  St.  Peter's  could  be  com- 
pleted. 

The  doctrine  of  indulgences  was  not  new  to  the 
Church.  Like  so  many  other  features  of  Romanism, 
it  was  a  corruption  of  apostolic  custom.  The  early 
Church  was  rigid  in  the  enforcement  of  discipline. 
This  fact  comes  out  in  the  case  for  which  the  apostle 
reproves  the  Corinthians  in  his  first  epistle  to  them, 
and  in  his  appeal  for  mercy  to  the  party  involved  in 
the  second  epistle. 

Expulsion  from  membership  was  not  infrequent 
when  the  needs  of  discipline  required  it,  but  this  was 
the  extreme  penalty.  The  early  Church  claimed  no 
right  to  go  farther  than  this.  And  then,  and  now,  the 
Church  has  never  had  the  right  to  do  more  than  this 
in  the  enforcement  of  penalty.  Sometimes  the  pun- 
ishment went  no  farther  than  suspension.  In  all  such 
cases,  and  in  the  case  of  expulsion  itself,  if  the  guilty 
party  evinced  genuine  penitence,  there  was  a  remission 
of  the  penalty  and  he  was  restored  to  membership. 
The  apostles  and  the  apostolic  Church  never  claimed 


Luther  s  Theses.  io^ 

the  authority  to  forgive  sins  or  to  enforce  any  sort 
of  punishment  after  death,  purgatorial  or  otherwise. 
In  the  course  of  time,  as  the  popes  of  Rome  began 
to  add  to  their  power  and  assumed  all  the  executive 
and  judicial  prerogatives  of  the  ecclesiastical  body, 
and  as  the  doctrine  of  purgatory  was  adoj^tcd  by  the 
Church,  originating  most  probably  in  the  Persian  wor- 
ship of  fire,  the  popes  claimed  the  right  to  remit  tem- 
poral penalties,  and  finally  to  relieve  from  purgatorial 
punishment.  This  remission  was  what  was  called  an 
'indulgence."  This  indulgence  freed  the  recipient 
from  penance,  and  came  in  time  to  be  accepted  as  free- 
ing the  dead  from  purgatory  itself,  or  at  least  shorten- 
ing their  stay  in  this  place  or  state  of  supposed  purg- 
ing from  all  that  is  sinful.  The  next  step  was  easy 
enough :  penance  and  purgatorial  fires  found  commuta- 
tion in  the  payment  of  a  prescribed  sum  of  money  to 
the  pope  or  his  authorized  agents.  For  many  years 
before  the  time  of  Martin  Luther  indulgences  had 
been  granted  upon  certain  conditions,  such  as  the  visit- 
ing of  sacred  places,  or  doing  certain  ritualistic  things, 
such  as  crawding  on  one's  knees  up  Pilate's  staircase 
at  Rome  and  the  like.  It  must  be  said  to  the  credit  of 
Leo  X.  that  he  did  not  originate  the  sale  of  indulgences  ; 
he  simply  carried  the  business  farther  than  any  of  his 
predecessors  had  done.  It  is  possible,  too,  that  he  may 
have  claimed  greater  merit  for  the  indulgences  sold 
under  his  direction  than  any  previously  placed  on  the 
market.  Here  is  an  authentic  copy  of  the  indulgences 
sold  by  the  monk  Tetzel  by  the  thousands  in  Germany 
at  the  beginning  of  the  great  Reformation  : 


io6  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

Our  Lord  Jesns  Christ  have  mercy  on  thee  [here  the  name 
of  the  purchaser  was  inserted]  and  absolve  thee  by  the  merits 
of  his  most  holy  sufferings !  And  I,  in  virtue  of  the  apostolic 
povs^er  committed  unto  me,  absolve  thee  from  all  ecclesiastical 
censures,  judgments,  and  penalties  thou  mayest  have  merited; 
and,  further,  from  all  excesses,  sins,  and  crimes  thou  mayest 
have  committed,  however  great  and  enormous  they  may  be 
and  of  whatever  kind,  even  though  they  should  be  reserved 
to  our  holy  father,  the  pope,  and  to  the  apostolic  see.  I  efface 
all  the  stains  of  weakness  and  all  traces  of  the  shame  thou 
mayest  have  drawn  upon  thyself  by  such  actions.  I  remit  the 
pain  thou  wouldst  have  had  to  endure  in  purgatory.  I  receive 
thee  again  to  the  sacraments  of  the  Church.  I  hereby  rein- 
corporate thee  in  the  body  of  the  saints,  and  restore  thee  to 
the  innocence  and  purity  of  thy  baptism,  so  that  at  the  moment 
of  thy  death  the  gate  to  the  place  of  torment  shall  be  closed 
against  thee  and  the  gate  to  the  paradise  of  joy  shall  be  opened 
unto  thee.  And  if  thou  shouldst  live  long,  the  grace  con- 
tinueth  unchangeable  till  the  time  of  thy  end.  In  the  name 
of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Amen. 
The  brother,  John  Tetzel,  Commissary,  hath  signed  this  with 
his  own  hand. 

This  precious  document  was  most  assuredly  a 
''plenary  indulgence."  It  pardoned  all  sins,  past,  pres- 
ent, and  to  come.  It  released  from  all  penalty,  ecclesi- 
astical, purgatorial,  and  heavenly.  By  a  single  stroke 
of  the  pen  it  made  a  Christian  out  of  a  thief,  a  mur- 
derer, or  a  blasphemer.  It  virtually  abrogated  all  law, 
human  and  divine.  It  closed  the  gates  of  hell  forever 
against  the  vilest  sinner  who  paid  for  it.  It  opened 
wide  the  gates  of  heaven  to  the  most  abandoned 
wretch  who  would  chink  the  change  into  Tetzel's 
money  box. 

Surely  no  being  but  the  devil  himself  ever  before 


Lilt  Iter's  Theses.  107 

or  since  ventured  to  speak  or  write  siicli  unspeakable 
profanity.  And  all  this  in  the  name  of  the  holy  Cath- 
olic Church !  And,  worse  still,  in  the  name  of  the  Holy 
Trinity ! 

Catholic  writers  admit  now  that  there  were  abuses 
in  connection  with  the  sale  of  these  indulgences.  Bui 
Rome  has  never  officially  repudiated  these  indulgences 
nor  the  profane  mountebank  who  sold  them  in  the 
Catholic  Churches  under  papal  authority.  And  it  was 
because  Luther  appealed  to  the  pope  to  stop  the  sale 
of  these  indulgences  that  he  was  put  under  the  ban  of 
the  Church,  and  escaped  the  stake  only  because  the 
papacy  could  not  lay  its  vengeful  hands  upon  him. 
And  because  others  since  then  have  believed  as  Luther 
did,  and  have  refused  to  bow  the  knee  to  the  Roman 
pontiff  and  the  Romish  power,  they  have  faced  the  In- 
quisition and  the  fires  of  martyrdom ;  and  "semper 
idem"  is  the  proud  boast  of  Rome.  It  was  reserved 
for  the  nineteenth  century  for  a  general  council  to 
declare  that  the  successors  to  the  infidel,  Leo  X.,  are 
infallible.    Leo,  then,  must  have  been  infallible. 

Possibly  the  conclusion  reached  in  the  preceding 
sentence  may  be  too  hasty.  Let  us  see.  Is  the  pope  of 
Rome  infallible  ex  officio,  or  was  he  made  infallible  by 
a  decree  of  the  General  Council  ?  Did  the  council  that 
sat  in  1870  make  Pius  IX.  infallible,  or  did  it  merely 
recognize  a  preexistent  fact?  If  pai)al  infallibility  de- 
pends upon  the  decree  of  a  council,  then  the  council 
must  be  infallible;  but  if  an  infallible  council  makes  an 
infallible  papacy,  does  it  not  part  with  its  own  infalli- 
bility?   Is  it  infallible  when  it  thus  surrenders  its  own 


ioS  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

infallibility?  If  a  general  council  is  ever  infallible, 
is  it  not  forever  infallible?  If  it  is  not  infallible  al- 
ways, is  it  infallible  at  any  time?  Since  a  general 
council  cannot  make  an  infallible  pope  without  sur- 
rendering its  own  infallibility  and  thus  proving  that 
it  is  not  infallible  at  all,  then  the  pope  of  Rome  is  es- 
sentially infallible.  If  this  reasoning  be  correct,  then 
Leo  was  infallible,  Alexander  Borgia  was  infallible, 
and  the  female  who  is  said  to  have  occupied  the  papal 
chair  for  a  time,  becoming  a  mother  while  pope,  was 
infallible.  Then  since  the  popes  are  said  to  be  infal- 
lible when  they  set  forth  the  doctrines  of  the  Church, 
and  since  Leo  X.  was  announcing  a  doctrine  of  the 
Church  when  he  authorized  the  sale  of  indulgences, 
and  since  one  infallible  pope  cannot  contradict  another 
infallible  pope,  it  would  be  highly  inconsistent  for  the 
Romish  hierarchy  to  condemn  or  disclaim  the  action 
of  Leo  in  throwing  these  indulgences  on  the  market. 
An  infallibility  that  changes  with  every  occupant  of 
the  chair  of  St.  Peter  would  not  be  consistent  with  it- 
self. Some  things  are  suggested  to  the  mind  by  con- 
trast, and  when  studying  this  matter  of  the  sale  of  in- 
dulgences one  is  apt  to  think  of  the  case  of  Simon 
Magus,  the  sorcerer,  who  offered  Simon  Peter  money 
for  the  power  to  bestow  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  men 
by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  and  Peter's  answer:  ''Thy 
money  perish  with  thee !"  But  the  infallible  Leo  could 
quite  easily  reverse  the  fallible  Peter  (no  general  coun- 
cil had  elected  Peter  pope)  and  accept  the  money  that 
came  to  him  from  his  duly  authorized  agent,  John 
Tetzel. 


Luther's  Theses.  109 

But  the  story  of  these  indulgences  has  not  all  been 
told.  They  were  not  merely  efficacious  in  the  case  of 
the  living  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  they  secured  pardon 
from  all  sin,  past,  present,  and  future,  and  assured 
the  ultimate  salvation  of  those  who  bought  them ;  they 
availed  even  for  the  dead.  Tetzel,  with  the  skill  of 
the  modern  spellbinder,  appealed  pathetically  to  the 
living  in  behalf  of  the  dead.  Fathers  and  mothers, 
husbands  and  wives,  brothers  and  sisters,  children 
and  grandparents  were  in  purgatory.  Back  from  this 
spiritual  limbo  they  cried  out  for  help  to  their  earthly 
relatives:  "You  can  help  us,  and  you  will  not!"  And 
then  the  veracious  Tetzel  would  exclaim :  "These  im- 
prisoned souls,  your  loved  ones,  will  fly  away  to  heaven 
just  as  soon  as  the  money  rattles  in  the  box !" 

And  of  course  the  money  rained  into  the  hands  of 
this  trusted  servant  of  the  pope  and  the  Church.  What 
mattered  it  if  he  was  a  bit  loose  in  his  morals?  Xo 
sinner  could  bestow  divine  pardon  upon  other  sinners, 
since  he,  "in  virtue  of  the  power  vested  in  him,"  was 
forgiving  sinners  right  and  left,  and  was  anxious  to 
forgive  all  who  would  pay  the  price  of  pardon,  he  was, 
in  the  very  nature  of  things,  not  amenable  to  the  law 
of  God  or  man,  and  could  go  into  taverns  and  drink  to 
drunkenness  and  indulge  his  lust  in  houses  of  ill  fame. 
True,  such  conduct  had  been  specially  forbidden  by 
those  who  had  given  him  his  authority,  but  these  high- 
er officials  could  not  take  away  from  him  with  the  left 
hand  what  they  had  given  him  with  the  right.  Was 
he  not  earning  honest  money  for  the  Church?  Was 
he  not  preparing  a  shelter  for  the  bones  of  the  holy 


no  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

apostles?  Did  he  not  earn  all  he  received?  Was  he 
not  morally  immune  ?  He  would  go  where  he  pleased 
and  do  what  he  pleased.  He  was  spending  his  own 
money. 

Back  of  Tetzel  in  the  sale  of  these  indulgences  was 
Albert,  Archbishop  of  Mayence  and  Magdeburg.  Wit- 
tenberg itself  was  in  Albert's  diocese,  and  he  was 
therefore  Martin  Luther's  superior,  to  whom  he  was 
of  course  responsible.  At  twenty-seven  Albert  had 
reached  this  high  office.  His  early  promotion  had 
fostered  his  natural  ambition.  When  he  was  made 
archbishop  he  had  paid,  as  others  had  done,  a  good 
price  for  his  office,  which  he  of  course  received  from 
the  pope.  This  price  was  covered  up  by  a  little  piece 
of  fiction.  When  a  priest  was  made  an  archbishop  he 
received  a  pallium.  This  insignia  of  office  is  worn  by 
the  pope  all  the  time,  but  the  archbishop  wears  it  only 
on  state  occasions.  It  is  a  band  for  the  neck  woven  of 
white  lamb's  wool,  with  black  embroidered  crosses 
with  bands  attached,  one  hanging  down  in  front  and 
the  other  down  the  back.  Albert  paid  thirty  thousand 
gulden,  approximately  twelve  thousand  dollars,  for  this 
inexpensive  regalia.  Catholic  writers  claim  that  the 
pope  does  not  really  sell  these  pallia,  but  that  what  un- 
sophisticated people  would  call  a  price  demanded  and 
received  is  only  a  contribution  to  the  pope. 

This  papal  paraphernalia  is  supposed  to  have  some 
resemblance  to  the  breastplate  worn  by  the  Jewish  high 
priests,  and  to  remind  its  wearers  of  the  interest  the 
Great  Shepherd  takes  in  his  flock,  and  consequently 
the   interest   the   undershepherds   should    take.      One 


Lutlicr's  Theses.  m 

critically  disposed  mig-ht  think  this  frag-mcntary  gar- 
ment had  the  quality  of  antithetic  suggestion  and  in- 
spiration, but  of  course  such  conjectures  as  this  are 
out  of  place  in  sober  history. 

Albert  was  a  man  of  princely  blood  and  princely 
pretensions.  He  kept  a  royal  retinue  about  him.  His 
court  was  kingly.  Poverty  and  beggary  arc  quite  good 
enough  for  monks  and  friars,  but  popes  and  Romish 
dignitaries  seem  not  to  have  regarded  it  as  specially 
needful  in  their  moral  equipment.  The  overrighteous- 
ness  of  the  mendicant  orders  added  to  the  stock  in 
trade  of  the  Church.  It  furnished  a  part  of  the  basis 
upon  which  indulgences  were  issued  to  specially  needy 
and  willing  sinners.  Albert  did  not  have  the  money 
to  pay  for  his  pallium  and  to  meet  the  necessary  ex- 
penses of  his  way  of  living,  so  he  had  recourse  to 
the  money  lenders.  The  Messrs.  Fugger,  the  Roth- 
schilds of  the  sixteenth  century,  accommodated  him. 
But  men  who  lend  money  usually  expect  to  be  reim- 
bursed, and  young  Albert  found  himself  hampered 
and  handicapped  with  debts  and  the  importunities  of 
creditors.  A  happy  thought  came  to  him :  he  would 
strike  a  bargain  with  the  pope  by  which  he  would  be 
allowed  to  have  a  monoply  of  the  sale  of  indulgences 
in  Germany.  He  would  pay  the  pope  half  of  the  pro- 
ceeds, and  his  own  half,  after  deducting  the  necessary 
expense  of  the  business,  would  pay  his  debts.  A 
scheme  that  carried  such  liberal  profits  to  the  pope, 
such  pecuniary  profits  to  himself,  and  such  moral 
profits  to  the  people  commended  itself  at  once  to  his 
judgment.    Only  one  other  thing  was  needed :  he  must 


112  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

find  a  man  who  could  push  the  business  successfully. 
And  he  found  the  man.  The  individual  intrusted  with 
this  matter  was  the  Dominican  monk,  John  Tetzel. 

This  historic  individual  was  the  son  of  a  jeweler, 
and  was  born  at  Leipsic  near  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  He  was  therefore  well  advanced  in  years 
when  he  was  placed  in  the  responsible  position  of  sell- 
ing indulgences.  He  was  well  fitted  by  character  and 
capacity  for  his  work.  He  was  an  orator,  he  was  full 
of  energy,  and  he  had  lived  a  vicious  life.  He  was  the 
father  of  a  large  family  of  illegitimate  children,  one 
of  whom  he  carried  with  him  openly  on  his  rounds. 
On  one  occasion  he  had  barely  escaped  being  thrown 
into  the  Elbe  for  some  of  his  misdoings.  He  was  just 
the  man  Albert  needed. 

Tetzel's  progress  from  place  to  place  was  like  the 
journeyings  of  a  king.  A  cavalcade  accompanied  him. 
When  he  approached  a  city  or  town,  civil  and  ecclesi- 
astical officials  went  out  to  meet  him,  together  with  a 
great  company  of  men  and  women  and  children.  With 
these  he  entered  a  church.  A  red  cross  was  set  up 
near  the  altar,  draped  with  a  banner  bearing  the  papal 
arms.  Close  by  was  a  strong  iron  chest  for  the  money. 
Tetzel  held  forth  daily.  He  pleaded,  he  cajoled,  he  de- 
nounced, and  all  the  while  did  a  thriving  business. 
Accompanying  him  were  the  agents  of  the  Messrs. 
Fugger,  ready  to  collect  their  share  of  the  archbishop's 
portion  and  apply  it  to  his  debts.  The  iron  chest  was 
constantly  echoing  with  the  sound  of  silver  as  it 
dropped  from  the  hands  of  ready  purchasers  of  in- 
dulgences.    Sometimes  the  coin  was  gold.    There  was 


Luther's  Theses.  113 

a  regular  schedule  of  prices.  Pardon  for  some  kinds 
of  sin  came  higher  than  others.  Six  ducats  were  de- 
manded for  the  sin  of  adultery.  The  collection  bo>: 
grew  heavier  as  the  consciences  and  pockets  of  guilty 
sinners  grew  lighter.  Tetzel  had  a  brow  of  brass. 
He  bellowed,  he  roared,  he  thundered.  Men  trembled 
with  fear  of  purgatory,  and  came  down  with  the  cash. 

Modern  Catholic  writers  have  admitted  that  great 
abuses  and  irregularities  accompanied  the  sale  of  in- 
dulgences at  this  time,  and  the  faithful  and  zealous 
Tetzel  was  even  in  his  lifetime  made  the  scapegoat 
of  the  infamous  system.  The  Roman  legate  sharply 
rebuked  him  for  his  misconduct,  he  was  threatened 
with  the  displeasure  of  the  pope,  and  he  was  retired 
to  an  out-of-the-way  monastery.  And  then  the  most 
creditable  fact  in  his  whole  history  took  place — he  ac- 
tually died  of  a  broken  heart.  Meanwhile  the  Romish 
hierarchy  has  never  even  unto  this  day  disgorged  any 
of  the  cash  that  Tetzel  obtained  wrongfully,  as  was 
claimed  at  the  time — that  is,  by  going  beyond  his  in- 
structions in  the  sale  of  indulgences.  Possibly  it  might 
be  impertinent  to  inquire  where  the  pope  of  Rome  got 
his  right  to  sell  or  grant  indulgences.  The  contention 
of  Martin  Luther  that  he  did  not  have  this  authority 
was  the  onus  of  his  guilt,  according  to  the  judgment 
of  the  Romish  power.  Very  naturally  popes  do  not 
like  to  have  their  authority  questioned.  Arc  they  not 
infallible? 

Of  course  there  were  good  men  in  the  Catholic 
Church  at  this  time,  as  there  have  always  been,  and 
these  were  gfrievcd  bv  tliis  wholesale  barter  of  indul- 


114  ^  ^^f^  '^f  ^^^f't^f'^'  Luther. 

gences.  Naturally  they  asked :  "Does  God  love  money 
better  than  he  loves  souls?  Why  does  the  pope  con- 
dition the  release  of  a  soul  from  purgatory  upon  the 
payment  of  a  piece  of  money?    Is  this  merciful?" 

This  sale  of  indulgences  had  its  grotesquely  humor- 
ous side.  Sometimes  the  Church  was  made  to  suffer 
in  its  revenues  by  a  perfectly  logical  conclusion  on  the 
part  of  those  who  purchased  these  letters  of  release. 
The  wife  of  a  shoemaker  had  bought  one  of  these 
documents  against  her  husband's  will.  Some  time 
aftervv'ards  she  died.  Her  husband  buried  her  without 
asking  the  priest  to  say  mass  for  her.  The  priest  com- 
plained to  the  magistrate,  and  the  husband  was  brought 
before  the  civil  officer. 

"Is  your  wife  dead?"  asked  the  magistrate. 

"Yes,  sir,"  answered  the  husband. 

"Why  did  you  have  her  buried  without  a  mass?" 

The  shoemaker  produced  the  indulgence.  "If  this 
does  not  free  her  from  purgatory,  then  the  holy  father 
has  defrauded  me.  If  it  does,  then  the  priest  is  try- 
ing to  deceive  me." 

This  logic  satisfied  the  magistrate,  but  possibly  not 
the  priest,  and  the  shoemaker  went  his  way. 

Tetzel  himself  was  made  to  feel  as  well  as  see  this 
same  logic.  On  one  occasion  he  had  harangued  the 
people  in  his  usual  loud-mouthed  way,  when  a  Saxon 
gentleman  came  up  to  him  and  asked :  "Can  you  grant 
me  an  indulgence  that  will  take  the  sin  out  of  an  act 
that  I  am  anxious  to  do?" 

The  enterprising  but  unsuspecting  Tetzel  assured 
him  that  he  could. 


Luther's  Theses. 


115 


"Well,"  said  the  gentleman,  "I  have  an  enemy  that 
I  am  exceedingly  anxious  to  punish.  I  do  not  wish 
to  kill  him,  but  I  wish  to  punish  him  severely.  I  will 
give  you  ten  crow^ns  if  you  will  give  me  the  indulgence 
I  want." 

Tetzel,  with  the  true  instinct  of  a  trader,  saw  that  the 
gentleman  was  unusually  anxious  for  the  desired  paper, 
so  he  demanded  more  than  the  gentleman  had  offered. 
Finally  a  bargain  was  struck  for  thirty  crowns. 

Later,  when  Tetzel  and  his  party  took  their  journey 
to  another  town,  this  Saxon  gentleman  waylaid  him 
with  his  servants,  and  gave  Tetzel  a  flogging  such  as 
he  had  hardly  received  in  all  his  life,  and  the  precious 
money  box  was  also  taken  from  him.  Afterwards, 
when  Tetzel  complained  to  a  magistrate  and  the  party 
who  had  administered  the  castigation  was  brought  to 
trial,  he  exhibited  the  indulgence  he  had  received  from 
Tetzel  and  the  case  was  dismissed. 

All  Germany  was  talking  about  these  indulgences. 
They  were  handed  about  like  bank  bills.  Accounts  at 
taverns  were  settled  with  them.  They  were  used  as 
stakes  in  games  of  chance  by  Tetzel  and  his  compan- 
ions. Among  the  superstitious  (and  Rome  has  never 
taken  many  pains  to  save  a  people  from  superstition) 
they  found  ready  sale  and  ready  credence.  But  some 
mocked,  others  scoffed  at  the  Church  itself,  and  the 
most  sacred  things  and  names  were  brought  into  open 
contempt.  ]\Ieanwhile  the  great  good  sense  of  the 
German  people  saved  them  from  a  full  and  unqualified 
acceptance  of  all  the  consequences  of  this  ecclosiasti- 
cally  inspired  anarchy. 


Ii6  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

Luther  heard  about  Tetzel  and  his  work.  "God  will- 
ing," he  said,  "I'll  punch  a  hole  in  that  drum." 

The  Elector  Frederick  would  not  allow  Tetzel  to 
enter  his  territory.  He  did  not  utterly  discredit  the 
doctrine  of  indulgences  himself;  in  fact,  he  had  re- 
ceived some  such  concessions  from  the  pope  in  con- 
nection with  some  of  the  relics  he  had  gathered  at 
Wittenberg ;  but  he  was  not  prepared  to  allow  his  peo- 
ple to  be  mulcted  wholesale  by  Tetzel.  And  no  doubt 
there  was  personal  interest  in  his  effort  to  save  his 
little  kingdom  from  this  tax.  But  Tetzel  was  not  to 
be  outdone  in  this  way.  He  came  with  his  stock  of  in- 
dulgences and  his  money  box  and  opened  up  business 
in  a  town  close  to  the  borders  of  Saxony.  Some  of 
the  people  of  Wittenberg  went  thither  and  bought  in- 
dulgences. Afterwards  some  of  them  came  to  Luther 
and  made  confession  in  the  usual  way.  They  acknowl- 
edged that  they  had  committed  heinous  sins,  but  when 
Luther  urged  them  to  repent  they  declared  that  they 
proposed  to  continue  to  practice  these  same  sins.  Lu- 
ther, astonished,  indignantly  demanded  their  reason. 
Then  they  produced  the  indulgences  they  had  bouglat 
from  Tetzel.  Luther  denounced  these  indulgences, 
and  warned  those  who  held  them  and  relied  on  them 
that  they  were  worth  nothing,  and  that  if  they  per- 
sisted in  their  sins  they  would  certainly  be  lost.  The 
words  of  Luther  were  carried  back  to  Tetzel  by  some 
of  those  who  had  bought  indulgences,  and  that  blatant 
individual  used  severe  language  about  any  one  who 
would  dare  to  question  the  validity  of  his  indulgences. 
He  had  fires  made  in  tlie  public  square  of  the  town,  and 


Luther's  Theses. 


117 


asserted  with  great  emphasis  that  he  was  authorized 
by  the  pope  to  burn  heretics. 

"I  was  a  young  doctor,"  said  Luther,  '*just  from  the 
anvil,*'  and  the  zeal  of  this  young  doctor  made  him 
eager  not  merely  for  a  fray  with  Tetzel,  but,  what 
was  better,  to  take  up  the  cudgels  in  defense  of  tlie 
Church. 

Luther  was  unwilling  to  believe  that  the  pope  in- 
dorsed such  things  as  were  done  by  Tetzel,  or  that 
the  Church  generally  indorsed  them.  The  governing 
principle  of  his  life  was  to  stand  for  whatever  he  be- 
lieved to  be  true.  He  stood  for  the  Church  because 
he  believed  the  Church  stood  for  the  truth.  It  was 
his  discovery  that  the  Church  of  his  times  stood  for 
what  he  was  sure  was  not  true — a  discovery  which 
was  forced  upon  him  in  a  most  disagreeable  way — that 
ultimately  drove  him  from  the  Romish  Church. 

He  called  attention  to  Tetzel  and  his  doings  in  let- 
ters to  various  bishops  and  dignitaries  of  the  Church. 
Some  of  them  laughed  at  him,  others  expressed  sym- 
pathy with  his  views,  but  none  were  ready  to  join  him 
in  any  definite  effort  to  arrest  the  evil.  All  were  afraid 
of  the  Romish  hierarchy.  And  well  might  prudent 
men  tremble  before  a  power  that,  humanly  speaking, 
seemed  well-nigh  omnipotent,  and  that  was  as  unscrup- 
ulous as  mighty. 

Luther  determined  to  strike  for  the  truth  and  for 
the  Church.  The  feast  of  All  Saints  was  approaching. 
Many  would  come  to  Wittenberg  for  the  occasion. 
He  did  not  consult  any  of  his  friends,  and  did  not  even 
tell  them  what  he  proposed  to  do.    Sometimes  it  is  best 


ii8  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

to  confer  with  flesh  and  blood ;  sometimes  it  is  not. 
Many  times  our  friends  help  us ;  sometimes  they  do 
not. 

On  the  thirty-first  day  of  October,  15 17,  Martin 
Luther  posted  his  ninety-five  theses  on  the  door  of  the 
church  in  Wittenberg.  It  is  a  day  to  be  remembered. 
It  registered  the  beginning  of  a  new  calendar  in  the 
Christian  world. 

'  These  theses  seem  to  us  mild  in  tone  and  contents, 
but  at  the  time  they  were  bold,  defiant  deliverances. 
They  asserted  some  things  with  much  emphasis.  The 
pope  had  no  right  to  remove  any  but  ecclesiastical 
penalties.  Repentance  was  more  than  penance.  It 
was  an  inward  sorrow  for  sin  and  an  outward  change  of 
life.  Those  who  trusted  indulgences  for  salvation 
would  go  to  the  devil  along  with  those  who  sold  them. 
Indulgences  could  not  possibly  benefit  the  dead.  The 
mercies  of  Christ  were  alike  for  all.  The  purchase  of 
indulgences  was  not  better  than  charity.  The  pope 
would  rather  that  St.  Peter's  Church  were  burned  down 
than  that  it  should  be  built  at  the  expense  of  other 
charities.  The  pope  had  no  more  scriptural  power  in 
the  matter  of  pardon  than  every  other  priest  or  curate. 
Those  who  sold  indulgences  were  doing  the  work  of 
antichrist.  The  pope  must  be  reverenced.  He  was 
misrepresented  by  those  who  sold  indulgences.  All 
honor  to  the  pope  and  the  Church ! 

Luther  did  not  put  these  theses  forth  as  assertions 
or  dogmas ;  he  simply  set  them  forth  as  contentions 
for  which  he  would  be  willing  to  meet  any  one  in  open 
discussion.    This  was  a  common  custom  in  those  times. 


Luther's  Theses.  1 19 

In  the  preamble  he  announces  that  he  will  argue  these 
propositions  with  any  one  that  might  wish  to  meet  him. 
And  if  any  who  could  not  come  to  Wittenberg  in  per- 
son wished  to  discuss  them,  such  a  disputant  was  in- 
vited to  written  debate. 

It  is  worth  while  to  state  that  there  was  nothing 
new  or  radical  in  these  theses.  Substantially  every- 
thing claimed  in  them  had  been  asserted  and  main- 
tained by  others.  The  great  objection  to  them,  and 
that  which  made  their  writing  an  unpardonable  of- 
fense, was  that  they  endangered  the  revenues  of  the 
pope. 

The  night  before  these  theses  were  posted  on  the 
door  of  the  Wittenberg  church,  the  wise  Frederick 
dreamed  a  strange  dream.  In  his  vision  he  saw  a 
monk  writing  something  on  the  door  of  the  church 
at  Wittenberg,  using  a  pen  whose  staff  reached  to  the 
city  of  Rome.  This  staff  could  not  be  broken,  though 
it  scraped  the  very  ears  of  the  pope,  and  all  the  digni- 
taries of  the  Church  sought  to  break  it.  And  there 
were  other  pens ;  and  as  they  wrote  all  Europe  was  in 
an  uproar.  Then  the  good  prince  awoke  in  a  fright, 
and  the  next  morning  he  told  his  dream  to  his  com- 
panions at  breakfast;  and  all  wondered  what  this 
strange  dream  might  mean.  Some  of  them  lived  long 
enough  to  see  history  interpret  its  meaning. 

Frederick  dreamed  that  this  wonder-working  pen 
was  made  from  a  feather  plucked  from  a  Bohemian 
goose  a  hundred  years  old ! 


CHAPTER  X. 

Luther  Defends  His  Theses — The  Reformation 

Begins. 

LuTHER^s  ninety-five  theses  created  a  great  commo- 
tion. The  sensation  was  widespread.  In  two  weeks 
they  had  been  translated  from  the  Latin  in  which 
Luther  wrote  them  into  German,  and  had  spread  all 
over  Germany.  The  very  winds  of  the  early  winter 
seemed  to  scatter  them  throughout  the  land.  In  those 
days,  when  men  and  news  traveled  slowly,  it  was 
wonderful  how  the  theses  were  carried  from  city  to  city 
and  town  to  town  and  hamlet  to  hamlet.  Like  the 
leaves  of  the  passing  autumn  they  fell  upon  the  path- 
ways of  the  people.  But  they  were  not  dead  leaves ; 
they  were  rather  the  seeds  of  a  new  life.  They  were 
borne  across  the  Alps,  and  were  laid  at  the  very  gates 
of  the  Vatican. 

Luther  found  himself  suddenly  famous.  The  recluse 
of  the  monastery  had  all  at  once  become  the  most- 
talked-about  man  in  Europe.  Many  praised  him,  oth- 
ers abused  him,  and  all  wondered  whereunto  this 
thing  would  grow.  Leo,  the  courteous  skeptic  who 
occupied  the  papal  chair,  treated  the  matter  liberally 
and  humorously  at  first.  He  was  disposed  to  think 
that  too  much  learning  had  made  the  German  doctor 
mad.  Later,  when  the  matter  attained  proportions 
that  no  one  at  first  dreamed  of,  he  spoke  more  se- 
verely.   These  were  the  words  of  a  drunken  German, 

(120) 


Luther  Defends  His  Theses.  121 

he  said ;  when  the  nian  sobered  up  he  would  think 
better  of  the  matter.  By  and  by  the  lion  began  to 
roar,  and  nothing  but  an  overruling  Providence  saved 
the  poor  monk  from  his  jaws. 

The  masses  of  the  people  hailed  the  theses  with  de- 
light. They  praised  a  man  who  had  the  courage  to 
speak  out  against  the  impostures  and  impositions  of 
Rome.  Silent  men  are  not  always  submissive  to  au- 
thority and  oppression.  Nature  does  not  always  an- 
nounce the  coming  storm.  The  earthquake  comes 
without  foretokens.  Beasts  often  feel  its  tremor  and 
hear  its  rumblings  before  men  do.  Rome  did  not  hear 
the  mutterings  of  the  earthquake  and  the  storm.  She 
did  not  dream  that  the  very  silence  that  followed  the 
death  of  brave  John  Huss,  martyred  by  her  treachery, 
was  ominous  and  presaged  a  mighty  social  convulsion. 
Drunk  with  wealth  and  power  and  the  blood  of  the 
saints,  she  knew  nothing,  saw  nothing,  heard  nothing, 
cared  for  notliing  except  that  which  ministered  to  her 
avarice,  gratified  her  ambition,  and  satiated  her  venge- 
ful, persecuting  spirit.  Borrowing  the  garb  of  Chris- 
tianity, she  embodied  the  soul  of  Nero ;  and  claiming  to 
represent  the  Prince  of  Peace,  she  perpetuated  the  spir- 
it of  the  ancient  gladiator.  She  had  soothed  the  con- 
sciences of  men  with  her  fatal  opiates,  and  did  not  real- 
ize that  the  effects  of  the  drug  had  worn  off  and  that 
''neither  poppy  nor  mandagora  would  medicine  them 
to  their  sweet  sleep  of  yesterday."  No  delusion  is  so 
great  as  the  delusion  of  sinful  security. 

No  one  was  more  surprised  at  all  this  furor  than 
was  Martin  Luther  himself.   He  had  not  meant  to  defy 


122  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

the  Church;  he  had  meant  to  defend  it.  The  theses 
were  in  no  sense  a  popular  pronunciamento.  They 
were  written  in  Latin;  and  the  people  generally  did 
not  know  Latin.  They  were  couched  not  in  common 
phrases,  but  in  the  phraseology  of  the  schools.  They 
asserted  nothing  absolutely;  they  simply  challenged 
discussion.  Their  motive  was  not  dogmatic  egotism, 
but  the  loyalty  of  a  true  man,  who  loved  his  Church, 
the  truth,  and  his  Lord.  At  first  Luther  felt  strangely. 
Like  a  daring  soldier,  he  had  ventured  far  in  advance 
of  his  companions,  and  was  not  sure  that  his  fellow- 
soldiers  would  follow  him.  He  could  not  go  back; 
to  go  forward  might  mean  death,  and  death  has  its 
terrors  for  all  sane  men.  Once  he  had  sought  the  mon- 
astery to  find  his  Lord ;  now  he  had  found  him  in  that 
fearful  solitude  which  comes  to  a  man  who  stands 
alone  in  a  great  cause.  Men  do  not  need  to  hide  from 
the  world  to  know  this  seclusion  of  soul.  It  is  found 
rather  in  the  thick  of  the  fight  and  in  the  center  of  the 
multitude.  The  solitude  of  the  cloister  had  prepared 
him  for  this  solitude  of  spirit  in  the  midst  of  the 
throngs  about  him.  He  examined  himself  afresh,  as 
well  as  scrutinized  anew  the  position  he  had  taken. 
He  was  sure  that  he  had  found  the  Saviour,  and  found 
him,  not  in  priestly  confession  and  absolution,  but  in  his 
Word.  He  was  assured  that  what  he  had  taught  and 
believed  was  in  full  accord  with  the  Bible,  and  he  was 
assured  that  God  was  with  him.  Thus  assured,  he 
stood  forth  armed  and  equipped  for  the  battle  before 
him.  But  he  did  not  yet  know  how  sore  the  battle 
would  be. 


Luther  Defends  His  Theses.  1 23 

He  did  not  rush  recklessly  Into  the  conflict.  Those 
who  stand  for  conscientious  convictions  are  generally 
more  cautious  than  those  who  are  inspired  by  preju- 
dice, false  judgment,  or  self-interest.  The  aggressive- 
ness of  Luther's  nature  was  not  yet  in  full  action. 
He  was  not  fully  acquainted  with  himself.  He  never 
turned  back,  and  as  he  went  forward  he  developed 
the  strength  of  character  that  had  hitherto  lain  dor- 
mant. The  giant  was  at  last  awake,  and  no  false  Delilah 
had  shorn  his  locks  while  he  slept. 

On  the  day  after  the  posting  of  the  theses  Lu- 
ther preached  very  earnestly  to  his  people.  He  warned 
them  against  trusting  in  indulgences.  He  told  them 
that  he  had  no  power  to  save  them.  Only  Jesus  could 
do  that.    They  must  look  to  him. 

For  many  months  after  Luther  had  openly  assumed 
his  attitude  toward  the  question  of  Indulgences  his 
attitude  toward  his  ecclesiastical  superiors  was  thor- 
oughly loyal.  He  wrote  most  respectfully  to  the  arch- 
bishop, stating  his  case  and  making  his  appeal  that 
the  sale  of  indulgences  might  be  discontinued.  Of 
course  this  appeal  accomplished  nothing.  How  could 
it?  He  sent  a  copy  of  his  theses  to  Leo  with  a  most 
humble  and  reverential  letter.  But  in  his  letter  he  did 
not  retract  anything  he  had  written,  nor  did  he  recant 
anything  he  said  at  any  time  anywhere.  His  enemies 
have  said  that  his  course  provoked  an  unnecessary 
schism  In  the  Church  ;  that  but  for  his  haste  the  re- 
forms he  pleaded  for  would  have  come  in  the  course 
of  tlm^e;  and  that  therefore  he  really  retarded  the 
growth  of  those  principles   for   which   he   contended. 


124  ^  -^^7^  ^f  Martin  Luther. 

In  this  connection  it  cannot  be  stated  with  too  much 
emphasis  that  Luther's  first  appeals  were  to  the 
Church.  The  only  answer  he  received  was  reprimand, 
rebuke,  and  ultimate  excommunication,  followed  by 
centuries  of  malicious  abuse  heaped  upon  his  name 
and  memory.  No  lie  has  been  too  black,  no  slander  too 
foul,  and  no  curse  too  bitter  for  Catholic  slanderers  of 
Martin  Luther.  To  this  very  day  Roman  Catholic 
priests  teach  their  flocks  to  hate  the  name  of  Luther, 
and  to  perpetuate  falsehoods  which  they  know,  or 
should  know,  are  the  grossest  misrepresentations.  Un- 
fortunately the  Romish  Church  has  held  too  tenacious- 
ly to  the  Jesuitical  doctrine  that  falsehood  can  be  used 
innocently  in  defending  the  truth. 

Luther,  as  we  have  said,  did  not  understand  the  full 
meaning  of  the  position  he  had  taken.  He  admits  that 
he  did  not  know  all  that  was  in  the  indulgences,  and 
he  felt  a  little  strangely.  ''The  tune  was  too  high," 
he  said ;  he  couldn't  reach  it  with  his  voice.  But  his 
enemies  understood  the  doctrine  of  indulgences,  and 
the  logic  of  that  doctrine,  and  they  picked  up  the  gaunt- 
let he  had  thrown  down.  They  forced  the  real  issue 
to  the  front,  and  forced  him  to  meet  it.  This  is- 
sue resolves  itself  into  a  simple  syllogism:  Tlie  pope 
has  authorized  the  sale  of  indulgences ;  but  the  pope  is 
infallible;  therefore  the  sale  of  indulgences  is  right. 
Luther  at  this  time  had  disputed  only  the  conclusion  ;  he 
had  not  rejected  the  premises.  But  he  could  not  doubt 
the  conclusion  and  at  the  same  time  admit  the  truth  of 
the  premises ;  so  in  the  course  of  time  he  refused  to 
accept  the  premises,  and  thus  he  became  a  Protestant. 


Luther  Defends  His  Theses.  125 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  Luther  had  never  fully  ac- 
cepted the  doctrine  of  papal  infallibility.  In  this  he 
was  not  peculiar.  That  doctrine  was  not  then  a  formu- 
lated doQ:ma  of  the  Church.  If  the  doctrine  did  not 
originate  with  Thomas  Aquinas,  who  lived  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  and  who  did  more  than  almost  any 
other  scholastic  writer  to  give  systematic  shape  to  the 
doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church,  it  at  least  had  in  him 
its  most  strenuous  advocate.  Luther  believed  in  the 
supreme  authority  of  the  Church,  and  in  this  sense 
its  infallibility,  but  he  believed  that  this  authority  was 
not  vested  in  the  pope  alone,  but  in  the  general  coun- 
cils as  well.  For  three  centuries  and  a  half  after  Mar- 
tin Luther  was  confronted  with  this  question  of  papal 
infallibility  it  was  an  unsettled  matter  in  the  Romish 
Church.  Into  all  the  ins  and  outs  of  Jansenism  and 
Ultramontanism  we  need  not  go.  It  is  enough  to  say 
that  after  the  Reformation  the  issue  was  more  than 
an  academic  question.  Papal  infallibility,  according  to 
modern  Catholics,  is  a  very  harmless  looking  doctrine. 
They  claim  that  it  means  simply  that  the  pope  is  a 
court  of  final  resort ;  that  every  body,  ecclesiastical  and 
civil,  must  have  a  supreme  judicatory,  and  that  the 
pope's  functions  are  of  this  nature.  This  is  not  the 
papal  infallibility  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  but  a  sort  of 
afterthought  designed  to  give  the  dogma  a  semblance 
of  justification.  According  to  the  belief  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  and  of  those  who  engaged  in  the  contro- 
versy with  Martin  Luther,  papal  infallibility  meant 
that  the  pope  could  do  no  wrong.  And  this,  to  an 
unsophisticated  mind,  is  the  only  consistent  view   of 


126  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

the  doctrine.  Two  questions  asked  in  another  con- 
nection may  be  repeated  here:  If  the  pope  is  not  in- 
falHble  always  and  in  all  things,  when  and  in  what  is 
he  infallible?  If  he  is  not  infallible  in  all  things  and 
at  all  times,  is  he  infallible  at  all?  To  say  that  he  is 
infallible  when  speaking  ex  cathedra  would  seem  to 
make  the  "seat,"  and  not  the  man,  infallible. 

Martin  Luther,  as  we  shall  see,  was  forced  finally 
to  reject  the  infallibility  of  the  pope,  general  councils, 
and  the  infallibility  of  even  the  Church  itself,  and  to 
find  infallibility  in  the  Bible  alone. 

The  first  to  take  up  the  controversy  against  Luther 
was  the  redoubtable  Tetzel  himself.  Assisted  by  one 
Conrad  Wimpina,  he  set  forth  two  sets  of  theses  in 
defense  of  indulgences.  Immediately  upon  their  pub- 
lication the  University  of  Frankfort-on-the-Oder  made 
him  doctor  in  theology,  thus  espousing  his  cause,  and 
the  erstwhile  seller  of  papal  pardons  held  a  learned 
disputation  on  the  question  involved.  It  is  easy  to 
imagine,  if  we  did  not  know  otherwise,  what  his  con- 
tention would  be.  The  pope  was  virtually  the  Church. 
What  he  said  must  be  accepted  by  all  Christians  as  au- 
thoritative— as  authoritative  as  the  Bible  itself.  Those 
who  opposed  the  pope  were  heretics,  and  were  already 
excommunicated.  If  they  did  not  recant  in  a  reason- 
able time  they  were  worthy  of  the  severest  penalties. 
If  the  pope  and  the  Church  were  not  authoritative  in 
matters  of  faith,  then  every  man  could  and  would  be- 
lieve only  what  was  pleasing  to  himself.  Then  there 
would  be  as  many  heads  of  the  Church  as  there  were 
individuals. 


Luther  Defends  His  Theses.  127 

This  last  statement  contains  the  essence  of  an  oft 
repeated  criticism  of  Protestantism.  And  unfortu- 
nately Protestants  themselves  have  sometimes  bor- 
rowed this  argument  from  Romanists  and  used  it 
against  other  Protestants.  Intolerance  and  persecution 
have  come  from  this  source.  There  are  at  least  two 
errors  in  it.  No  Church,  popish  or  Protestant,  has 
ever  had  the  divinely  given  right  of  prescription  and 
proscription  as  to  the  faith  of  men.  Every  Church 
stands,  or  should  stand,  for  what  it  believes,  and  it 
has  the  right  to  demand  that  its  members  should  at 
least  outwardly  respect  its  creed ;  but  it  has  no  au- 
thority to  say  that  all  men,  or  any  man,  shall  accept 
without  question  what  it  teaches.  The  other  error  is 
that  it  has  been  supposed  by  Romish  authorities  that 
faith  could  be  enforced;  in  other  words,  that  men  can 
be  compelled  to  believe,  even  against  their  will  and 
reason;  whereas  all  faith  is  free.  It  is  essentially  so. 
Faith  under  constraint  or  restraint  is  no  faith  at  all. 

Luther  cared  little  for  what  Tetzel  said  about  him 
and  his  theses.  That  master  of  the  rhetoric  of  abuse 
had  on  more  than  one  occasion  paid  his  respects  to 
Luther.  Luther's  retort  was  strong,  but  not  elegant. 
He  said  he  seemed  to  hear  an  ass  braying.  He  declared 
he  was  glad  that  such  men  as  Tetzel  did  not  consider 
him  a  good  Christian.  This  David  was  not  always 
careful  to  select  smooth  stones  to  slay  his  Goliath. 

But  there  were  more  influential  opponents  than 
Tetzel.  Prierias,  a  confidant  of  the  pope,  answered  the 
theses.  John  Eck,  a  learned  professor  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Ingolstadt,  and  who  in  the  battle  just  beginning 


128  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

was  to  take  a  great  part  against  Luther,  wrote  a  reply 
which  was  full  of  bitterness  and  scurrility.  He  had 
been  on  friendly  terms  with  Luther  up  to  this  time, 
and  when  reproached  for  his  breach  of  friendship  and 
courtesy  he  excused  himself  on  the  ground  that  he 
had  written  his  treatise  for  the  archbishop,  and  not  for 
publication.  But  the  cruel  words  found  their  way  to 
the  eye  of  the  public. 

In  all  these  answers  there  were  more  assumptions 
than  arguments,  and  threats  were  not  wanting.  Lu- 
ther was  a  dangerous  person,  a  Hussite,  and  ought  to 
be  sent  to  the  stake.  Rome  has  often  found  it  more 
convenient  to  burn  her  enemies  than  to  answer  them. 
Fire  does  its  work  more  quickly  and  effectively  than 
logic.  In  default  of  force  of  argument  resort  is  had 
to  the  argument  of  force. 

But  Luther  was  not  idle.  He  published  a  "Sermon 
to  the  German  People,''  in  which  he  set  forth  his 
views  touching  the  sale  of  indulgences.  The  man's 
soul  was  stirred  within  him.  The  soldier's  blood  was 
up.  His  full  strength  came  out  only  in  the  fierceness 
of  the  impending  combat.  War  never  makes  generals ; 
it  simply  develops  them.  The  conflict  with  Rome  did 
not  make  Martin  Luther  into  the  reformer;  it  simply 
brought  out  the  volcanic  energies  of  the  man. 

In  the  meantime  he  went  on  with  his  duties  at  Wit- 
tenberg as  usual.  Staupitz  was  still  his  friend,  his 
fellow-professors  approved  his  stand  and  the  boldness 
of  the  man,  and  his  absolute  sincerity  made  him  the 
idol  of  the  student  body.  Nothing  appeals  so  power- 
fully to  young   manhood  as   courage ;   and,   possibly, 


Luther  Defends  His  Theses,  129 

there  was  something  of  partisanship  in  the  support 
the  members  of  the  Augustine  order  gave  him. 

In  the  spring  he  attended  a  chapter  meeting  of  his 
order  at  Heidelberg.  The  Elector  Frederick,  who 
owed  Luther  a  recognized  debt  of  gratitude  for  help- 
ing him  to  protect  his  subjects  from  the  ravages  of 
Tetzel,  felt  some  concern  for  Luther's  safety,  and 
wrote  a  personal  letter  to  Staupitz  concerning  him. 
But  the  matter  of  indulgences  did  not  come  before 
the  body,  and  Luther  was  treated  with  consideration 
by  all  parties.  He  was  always  social  by  nature,  and 
while  his  life  was  not  at  any  time  a  self-indulgent  one, 
he  was  not  at  all  averse  to  the  social  amenities  of  life. 
As  serious  as  he  was,  he  always  had  a  ready  sense  of 
humor,  and  some  of  the  best  anecdotes  of  his  times 
find  a  place  in  what  he  said  and  wrote.  He  was  a  true 
German,  and  Germans  are  not  morose  people. 

In  ]\Iay,  15 18,  after  his  return  from  Heidelberg,  he 
hastened  to  finish  a  work  already  begun.  This  he 
called  ''Solutions, "  and  it  was  an  exposition  of  his 
theses.  In  it  he  took  ground  that  was  much  more  ad- 
vanced than  he  had  taken  in  the  theses.  He  was  fol- 
lowing faithfully,  as  he  had  always  done,  the  Light 
that  was  leading  him.  In  his  theses  he  had  touched 
very  gingerly  upon  the  powers  of  the  pope,  and  he 
had  not  taken  unequivocal  ground  against  the  dogmas 
of  the  Church.  Sometimes  men  take  positions  which 
tally  fully  with  their  convictions ;  but  when  they  realize 
all  that  is  involved  in  these  positions,  especially  if  per- 
sonal safety  or  even  the  matter  of  their  reputation  is 
involved,  they  shrink  back  from  unpleasant  conclusions 
9 


130  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

and  consequences.  But  the  Master  can  never  make 
great  leaders  and  reformers  out  of  such  cowards. 
Martin  Luther  knew  that  the  sale  of  indulgences  was 
wrong,  and  he  was  ready  to  reject  any  sort  of  premises 
that  set  up  such  a  conclusion  as  the  rightfulness  of  this 
traffic  in  the  souls  of  men.  In  his  '"Solutions"  he 
showed  that  he  was  making  progress  in  his  search 
after  truth  and  that  he  was  courageous  enough  to  fol- 
low his  convictions  to  the  bitter  end.  He  asserted  that 
penance  was  not  of  scriptural  authority ;  that  the  pope 
had  no  right  to  dispose  of  the  accumulated  works  of 
supererogation,  so  called;  and  knowing  that  one  of 
the  popes  had  issued  a  decree  making  legal  the  sale  of 
indulgences,  he  asserted  that  a  papal  decree  was  not 
binding  upon  the  Church  until  accepted  by  the  Church 
through  a  dogma  of  a  general  council.  It  was  not 
long  before  he  gave  up  this  last  shred  of  Romanism. 

All  this  time  the  agitation  was  growing.  The  peo- 
ple, disgusted  with  the  sale  of  indulgences,  were  be- 
coming disaffected  toward  the  Church.  One  of  the 
marvels  of  the  great  Reformation  was  the  rapidity 
of  its  movement.  This  was  not  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury, but  the  sixteenth.  It  was  not  the  age  of  steam 
and  electricity.  It  was  a  time  of  slow  thought  and  slug- 
gish travel.  And  yet  within  a  few  years,  almost  in 
a  few  months,  Germany  had  broken  off  the  chains 
of  Romanism.  The  forces  leading  to  such  a  sudden 
change  were  cumulative.  The  combustibles  were 
gathered  for  the  great  conflagration.  Luther  un- 
wittingly struck  the  match  that  set  them  blazing. 

Leo  heard  of  what  Luther  was  saying  and  doing. 


Luther  Defends  His  Theses.  131 

The  faithful  appealed  to  his  holiness  for  help.  Some- 
thing must  be  done,  and  done  at  once.  A  wild  boar, 
he  said,  had  broken  loose  in  Germany,  and  must  be 
corralled.  He  would  send  a  papal  legate  to  see  what 
could  be  done.  The  wily  Cajetan  was  dispatched  to 
Germany.  A  diet  was  held  at  Augsburg.  The  papal 
legate  was  intent  on  his  special  mission,  but  he  found 
that  other  questions  must  be  settled.  In  fact,  his  com- 
ing to  Germany  had  a  twofold  object.  Besides  the 
Luther  matter,  the  pope  was  anxious  for  the  consent 
of  the  diet  to  a  tax  which  the  Vatican  wished  to  im- 
pose on  Germany,  ostensibly  for  fighting  the  Turks, 
but  really  for  some  other  less  worthy  object.  The 
diet  met  this  demand  with  counter  demands.  The 
emissaries  of  the  pope  had  been  greedy.  The  annates, 
or  first  fruits,  which  meant  the  first  year's  salary  of 
every  member  of  the  Romish  clergy,  from  the  highest 
to  the  lowest,  had  been  exacted  by  the  pope  with  un- 
relenting regularity.  The  diet  complained  of  this  and 
other  oppressions,  and  were  in  no  mood  to  add  to  the 
taxes  of  the  people.  Maximilian,  the  aged  emperor 
of  the  German  Empire,  was  anxious  to  secure  the  in- 
fluence of  everybody,  even  the  Roman  legate,  in  order 
to  make  sure  that  his  grandson,  afterwards  Charles  V., 
should  succeed  him  on  his  throne.  About  this  time 
the  pope  had  summarily  ordered  Luther  to  appear  at 
Rome  within  sixty  days  for  trial.  Every  one  knew 
what  that  meant.  Once  in  his  hands,  Leo  would  have 
made  short  shrift  with  the  bold  monk  who  had  dared 
to  dedicate  his  ''Solutions"  to  the  pope.  The  result 
of  the  play  and   interplay   of  the   political   forces  at 


132  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

Augsburg  was  that  Cajetan  consented  to  give  him  a 
hearing  at  Augsburg  in  person. 

Much  Protestant  history  centers  about  the  old  town 
of  Augsburg.  Situated  in  Bavaria,  hke  many  other 
German  cities  it  has  had  a  varied  history.  Its  be- 
ginnings date  back  to  a  colony  founded  by  Au- 
gustus Csesar,  established  in  the  year  12  B.C.,  and 
the  name  came  from  Augustus.  Once  a  free  city,  it 
enjoyed  great  commercial  prosperity ;  but  the  dis- 
covery of  America  and  the  change  in  the  commercial 
currents  occasioned  by  that  event  left  the  city  much 
depleted;  and  when,  during  the  time  of  the  first  Na- 
poleon, the  old  German  Empire  went  to  pieces,  the 
city  lost  its  political  independence  and  was  merged 
into  Bavaria.  Here  the  Protestant  princes  and  ad- 
herents met  in  1530  and  formulated  the  first  Protestant 
creed,  the  historic  Augsburg  Confession  of  Faith. 

To  this  ancient  city  Luther  journeyed  on  foot  in  the 
autumn  of  15 18.  It  was  the  saddest  journey  he  had 
ever  made.  His  companion,  by  the  way,  was  a  young 
monk  and  pupil  of  his,  Leonard  Baier.  His  thoughts 
were  sorrowful  enough.  He  knew  something  of  what 
it  meant  to  appear  before  a  Romish  tribunal  on  a 
charge  of  heresy. 

"And  now  I  must  die,"  he  thought;  "and  what  dis- 
grace it  will  bring  upon  my  parents !"  But  he  had  the 
sentence  of  death  in  himself.  "Una  sains  victis,  nullam 
sperare  saliitem,"  said  the  old  Trojan ;  and  poor  Mar- 
tin knew  well  enough  that  his  only  hope  was  to  expect 
no  hope.  But  he  did  not  waver.  He  was  going  to  his 
first  battle  with  the  powers  of  Rome,  and  going  with 


Luther  Defends  His  Theses.  133 

the  courage  of  a  martyr,  ready  to  die  for  his  convic- 
tions. One  is  not  surprised  that  David  Hume  should 
see  in  the  willingness  of  men  to  die  for  their  faith 
only  the  desire  for  notoriety.  Only  a  Christian  can 
see  the  martyr  spirit. 

Luther,  footsore  and  sick,  was  forced  to  make  the 
last  few  miles  of  his  journey  in  a  carriage  and  to  bor- 
row a  monk's  coat  from  his  friend,  John  Link,  his 
own  being  too  much  worn  to  be  decent. 

On  his  arrival  at  Augsburg  he  wished  to  report  at 
once  to  Cajetan,  the  papal  legate.  That  official  had 
promised  Frederick  that  he  would  deal  with  Luther  in 
a  fatherly  way.  Luther's  friends,  however,  were  more 
prudent  than  he  was.  Even  then  wise  men  had  learned 
to  distrust  the  promises  of  popes  and  papal  legates. 
The  Emperor  Maximilian  chanced  to  be  hunting  in 
the  forests  near  Augsburg,  and  from  him  a  safe- 
conduct  was  secured  for  Luther  before  he  was  al- 
lowed to  present  himself  to  Cajetan. 

Luther's  attitude  when  he  did  appear  was  thoroughly 
reverential.  He  prostrated  himself  before  the  digni- 
tary. Cajetan  held  out  his  hand,  and  spoke  graciously 
to  the  humble  Luther. 

Several  interviews  were  had.  The  burden  of  Caje- 
tan's  demands  was.  Retract!  H  Luther  would  but 
do  this,  all  would  be  well.  It  was  intimated  to  him 
that  if  he  would  but  retract,  he  might  expect  high  pro- 
motion from  the  pope.  The  papal  delegate  flattered, 
scolded,  argued,  threatened.  One  of  his  agents  ap- 
proached Luther.  "Do  you  expect  that  your  prince 
will  take  up  arms  in  your  defense?"  he  asked. 


134  A  Life  of  Martin  Liither. 

"God  forbid !"  said  Luther. 

"Where,  then,  do  you  look  for  protection?"  asked 
the  satrap. 

"From  heaven,"  answered  Luther. 

The  only  concession  Luther  would  consent  to  make 
was  a  promise  that  if  the  sale  of  indulgences  was  dis- 
continued, he  would  discontinue  the  agitation.  Of 
course  the  legate  would  not  consent  to  this  compromise, 
and  Luther  himself  afterwards  felt  ashamed  that  he 
had  offered  it.  The  situation  became  serious.  There 
was  good  reason  to  believe  that  Cajetan  was  planning 
to  seize  Luther  secretly,  if  not  openly,  and  that,  too,  in 
spite  of  'his  safe-conduct  from  the  emperor,  and  Lu- 
ther, like  Saul,  fled  from  the  city  by  night.  So  hasty 
was  his  departure  that  he  did  not  have  time  to  get  all 
his  simple  wearing  apparel.  After  a  weary  return 
trip,  part  of  it  made  on  horseback  without  a  saddle, 
he  reached  Wittenberg  on  the  anniversary  of  the  post- 
ing of  the  theses  to  the  door  of  the  church  there. 

And  so  the  first  battle  was  over,  and  the  victory  was 
really  with  the  man  who  had  fled  from  the  field.  To 
escape  with  his  life  was  a  victory ;  to  come  from  the 
contest  with  his  convictions  deepened  and  his  courage 
strengthened  was  a  greater  victory  still.  To  see  a 
foe  sometimes  lessens  one's  fear  of  him. 

And  now  the  leader  of  the  great  Reformation,  whose 
leadership  had  come  to  him  all  unsought,  entered  upon 
a  more  active  and  aggressive  campaign  than  ever.  He 
was  surprised  at  his  own  boldness.  He  now  spoke 
and  wrote  things  concerning  the  pope  and  the  Church 
which  a  little  while  before  he  would  have  considered 


Luther  Defends  His  Theses.  135 

rank  heresy.  He  said  that  it  seemed  that  a  higher,  a 
divine,  power  moved  him.  In  this  he  was  not  mis- 
taken. The  Spirit  was  not  reveahng  new  truths  to 
him,  but  bringing  the  old  to  his  remembrance. 

The  emissaries  of  Rome  were  also  active.  After 
Luther's  return  from  Augsburg  Cajetan  wrote  a  letter 
to  the  Elector  Frederick.  He  bitterly  complained  of 
Luther.  He  had  found  him  incorrigible.  The  only 
honorable  course  for  Frederick  to  pursue  now  was  to 
turn  Luther  over  to  the  authorities  at  Rome,  or  at 
least  to  banish  him  from  his  dominions.  Frederick  did 
not  reply  at  once.  After  some  weeks  he  wrote  a  very 
mild  reply  to  Cajetan.  He  assured  that  dignitary  that 
Luther's  course  entirely  met  his  approval.  He  did 
not  think  that  Luther  should  be  required  to  recant, 
when  the  matters  in  dispute  had  not  been  adjudicated 
by  a  general  council. 

While  Luther  felt  a  freedom  and  a  courage  he  had 
not  felt  before,  he  realized  that  his  situation  was  by 
no  means  one  of  safety.  He  knew  the  animus  of 
Rome  now  as  he  did  not  know  it  before.  Whatever 
loyalty  he  might  have  felt  for  the  great  hierarchy  in 
the  past,  and  however  sincere  his  efforts  had  been  to 
save  his  Church  from  the  shame  of  the  indulgences, 
he  knew  that  he  no  longer  had  anything  to  hope  for 
from  Rome.  He  was  coming  to  regard  the  pope  as 
antichrist,  and  he  realized  that  there  was  nothing  for 
him  in  the  future  but  an  uncompromising  war  upon 
the  papacy.  But  lie  was  unwilling  to  embroil  his  good 
friend  and  protector,  Frederick,  with  tlic  papal  see, 
and  he  knew  that  as  long  as  Frederick  sheltered  him 


136  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

he  was  liable  to  provoke  the  pope's  hostility,  a  thing 
much  to  be  dreaded  in  those  days.  So  he  was  ready 
to  go  into  exile.  Some  thought  that  he  might  find 
safety  in  Paris,  and  he  was  ready  to  go  thither.  He 
expressed  himself  thus  to  his  friend,  Spalatin,  the  elec- 
tor's chaplain.  "I  am  in  the  hands  of  God  and  my 
friends,"  he  said. 

Luther  did  not  go  into  exile.  The  Lord  found  other 
ways  of  protecting  his  servant;  and  his  preservation 
through  all  the  dangers  that  compassed  his  life,  while 
not  miraculous,  was  none  the  less  providential.  It 
would  be  interesting,  if  such  speculations  came  within 
the  purpose  of  this  history,  to  philosophize  as  to  what 
might  have  happened  had  he  sought  safety  in  France 
or  elsewhere.  At  times  in  the  history  of  the  world  the 
destiny  of  a  people  and  of  a  cause  has  seemed  wrapped 
up  in  the  life  of  an  individual,  but  possibly  this  has  not 
happened  as  often  as  we  think.  Seed  sown  by  a  hand 
that  was  paralyzed  even  before  the  sowing  was  com- 
plete have  sprung  up  and  produced  a  harvest  that  was 
all  the  dearer  to  men  because  of  the  death  that  sancti- 
fied  the  sowing.  Luther  had  sown  the  seed ;  the  har- 
vest would  have  come  even  though  the  Romish  hier- 
archy had  martyred  him.  The  waters  of  the  Rhine 
which  bore  John  Huss's  ashes  to  the  sea  also  bore  the 
truths  for  which  he  died  to  the  many  peoples  living 
along  the  banks  of  the  historic  river,  and  the  very 
winds,  to  which  these  ashes  were  denied,  bore  the 
truths  to  the  utmost  parts  of  the  earth. 

The  mission  of  Cajetan  was  a  signal  failure.  He  ac- 
complished neither  of  the  objects  for  which  he  came. 


Luther  Defends  His  Theses,  137 

But  possibly  this  was  not  his  fault.  The  rising  tide  of 
the  Reformation  mig-ht  not  be  stayed  by  papal  diplo- 
macy and  papal  dogmatism.  Luther  had  no  respect  for 
his  theological  skill.  He  was  a  "mi'itton-headed  fel- 
low, who  was  as  awkward  in  the  handling  of  theology 
as  a  donkey  would  be  in  handling  a  harp."  His  effort 
to  persuade  the  diet  to  consent  to  a  greater  tribute  to 
the  Roman  see  was  a  foregone  failure.  Evidently  Leo 
did  not  comprehend  the  gravity  of  the  situation.  Blind 
himself,  he  did  not  realize  that  others  had  begun  to 
see.  He  did  not  know  that  the  light  was  dawning, 
and  he  did  not  care  to  know.  False  persuasions  are 
not  infrequent  effects  of  false  lives.  Men  believe  in 
the  perpetuity  of  a  thing  that  has  existed  a  long  time ; 
and  Leo,  naturally  enough,  regarded  the  power  of  the 
Roman  pontiff,  centuries-long  and  augmented  by  each 
passing  age,  as  too  well  established  to  be  shaken  by 
the  attacks  of  a  peasant  monk  up  in  Germany.  But 
the  mouth  of  this  audacious  individual  must  be  stopped. 
A  firebrand  would  do  this  most  effectually,  and  dar- 
ing imitators  of  this  child  of  the  devil  would  be  de- 
terred from  further  disturbances  if  this  man  Luther 
were  only  thus  summarily  disposed  of. 

A  new  agent  of  the  pope  was  sent  to  Germany.  The 
choice  of  this  representative  was  a  stroke  of  good  pol- 
icy. The  person  commissioned  to  look  after  this  agita- 
tion in  Saxony  and  elsewhere  in  the  German  Empire 
was  himself  a  German.  And  better  still,  in  view  of  his 
mission,  he  was  a  subject  by  birth  of  the  Elector  Fred- 
erick. He  was  the  pope's  chamberlain.  He  knew  fully 
the  mind  of  his  master  at  Rome,  and  he  was  supposed 


138  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

to  know  the  mind  of  his  prince  in  Germany.  The 
name  of  this  trusted  envoy  of  the  pope  was  Charles 
von  Miltitz. 

Miltitz  was  not  hampered  by  unwelcome  requests 
for  more  taxes.  He  had  but  one  task  to  accomplish. 
This  was  the  arrest  of  Martin  Luther.  This  would  be 
easy  enough,  it  was  supposed  at  Rome,  if  the  Elector 
Frederick  could  be  persuaded  to  withdraw  his  pro- 
tection from  the  man  who  had  stirred  up  all  this  com- 
motion. But  Miltitz  changed  his  original  plans  some- 
what after  he  reached  Germany.  He  admitted  to  Lu- 
ther that  the  arrest  could  not  be  carried  out  by  an  army 
of  25,000  men ;  that  three  out  of  every  four  people  were 
favorable  to  Luther  in  the  controversy.  And  so,  with 
vindictive  secret  instructions  from  the  pope  and  pres- 
ents and  flatteries  for  Frederick,  and  hypocritical  tears 
and  entreaties  for  Luther,  he  set  about  his  work  with 
all  the  skill  of  a  trained  Romish  diplomat ;  and  Rome 
has  turned  out  many  an  expert  in  the  fine  art  of  di- 
plomacy. 

Miltitz  brought  with  him  one  of  the  highest  tokens 
of  papal  favor.  This  was  nothing  less  than  the  golden 
rose,  "anointed  with  the  holy  chrism,  scented  with 
musk,  and  blessed  with  the  papal  benediction."  This 
gift  is  bestowed  on  princes  even  to  this  day  as  an  evi- 
dence of  the  appreciation  by  the  pope  of  some  act  of 
special  loyalty  to  the  Church.  However,  this  gift  was 
not  placed  at  once  in  the  hands  of  Frederick.  The  pope 
was  too  cautious  for  that.  Miltitz  was  to  deposit  it 
with  the  Messrs.  Fugger,  of  Augsburg.  Its  final  pres- 
entation depended  upon  the  elector's  compliance  with 


Luther  Defends  His  Theses.  139 

the  pope's  wishes.  However,  this  was  not  stated  in 
either  of  the  two  letters  Miltitz  carried  to  Frederick. 
The  first  of  these  letters,  at  least  that  which  was  in- 
tended to  be  first,  was  full  of  honeyed  words.  It  pro- 
fessed the  most  ardent  love  on  the  part  of  the  pope  for 
"his  son,"  the  faithful  Frederick.  In  his  second  the 
real  purpose  of  all  this  long-winded  flattery  was  fully 
disclosed.  There  was  in  Frederick's  dominions  an  in- 
fected sheep.  This  sheep  was  a  son  of  Satan.  This 
diseased  member  of  the  flock  would  spread  contagion 
to  other  sheep.  The  elector  himself  would  be  defiled 
by  the  presence  of  this  sheep.  The  pope  was  sure 
Frederick  would  cooperate  with  his  ambassador,  Mil- 
titz, in  bringing  this  sheep  to  justice.  A  letter  of  simi- 
lar import  was  sent  to  Spalatin,  Luther's  friend,  the 
chaplain  of  Frederick ;  and  the  papal  messenger  was 
armed  with  more  than  threescore  epistles  of  this  pur- 
port addressed  to  different  cities  of  Germany.  In  all 
of  them  the  pope  had  only  one  designation  for  Luther 
— he  was  a  child  of  the  devil. 

It  is  not  known  whether  Miltitz  intended  to  see  Lu- 
ther at  first  or  not;  possibly,  if  he  did  intend  to  see 
him,  it  was  with  a  view  of  impressing  upon  Luther  as  a 
matter  of  personal  safety  the  importance  of  renounc- 
ing his  position  at  once.  If  he  had  been  perfectly  free 
to  carry  out  his  intentions,  he  certainly  would  not  have 
minced  words  with  the  man  whose  words  had  aroused 
all  this  furor.  But  the  man  who  would  be  cruelly  un- 
relenting when  able  to  carry  out  his  wishes  can  flatter 
and  temporize  when  he  finds  himself  balked  of  his  pur- 
pose.    The  two  men  met  at  the  home  of  Spalatin  the 


140  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

first  week  in  January,  15 19.  *'0,  Brother  Martin  !"  ex- 
claimed the  sagacious  Miltitz.  "I  thought  you  were  an 
old  monk  arguing  with  himself  while  he  sat  by  his 
kitchen  fire,  but  now  I  see  how  young  and  strong  and 
vigorous  you  are."  He  went  on  to  tell  Luther  that  for 
a  hundred  years  nothing  had  occasioned  so  much 
trouble  at  Rome  as  this  matter  had.  The  pope  w^®uld 
rather  have  given  a  hundred  ducats  than  for  all  this 
to  have  happened.  He  actually  shed  tears  as  he  told 
Luther  about  the  troubles  of  the  holy  father.  The 
two  men  ate  supper  together,  and  there  were  outward 
evidences  of  the  warmest  regard  and  fellowship. 

Luther  was  not  deceived  by  all  this  and  the  apostol- 
ic kiss  bestowed  upon  him  w^hen  they  parted,  but  he 
was  not  discourteous  and  did  not  let  Miltitz  know  that 
he  understood  his  subterfuges.  Miltitz  offered  terms 
of  peace,  and  a  truce  was  concluded.  It  was  the  last 
of  Luther's  efforts  to  be  reconciled  to  Rome. 

Luther  agreed  to  write  two  letters.  One  of  these 
was  to  be  a  sort  of  apology  to  the  pope.  The  other  was 
to  be  an  open  letter  to  the  people  of  Germany.  In 
the  former,  which  was  duly  written,  Luther  retracted 
nothing,  but  assured  the  holy  father,  his  spiritual  su- 
perior the  pope,  that  his  purpose  all  the  time  had  been 
to  defend  the  Church  from  what  he  considered  a  great 
wrong.  In  the  letter  to  the  public  Luther  conceded  all 
he  could,  and  urged  the  people  to  avoid  misrepresenta- 
tions and  misjudgments  of  the  pope.  Compromises 
have  not  often  resulted  in  permanent  peace,  and  this 
one  did  not. 


CHAPTER  XL 
Luther  in  the  Gathering  Storm. 

The  quasi  pact  between  Luther  and  Miltitz  could 
not  bring  permanent  peace.  It  was  not  even  a  com- 
promise. Stripped  of  all  its  flatteries  and  subterfuges, 
all  that  Miltitz  promised  Luther  was  that  if  he  would 
behave  himself  in  future  the  pope  stood  ready  to  for- 
give him.  Rome  conceded  nothing,  and  made  no  ad- 
missions of  wrong-doing  in  connection  with  the  sale 
of  indulgences.  Infallibility  is  not  wont  to  reverse 
itself.  In  fact,  about  this  time  Leo  issued  a  bull  not 
merely  approving  what  had  been  done  in  the  traffic  in 
indulgences  but  authorizing  the  continuance  of  the  bus- 
iness. However,  the  agitation  raised  by  Luther  had 
greatly  reduced  the  proceeds  of  the  trade.  As  he  ex- 
pressed it  afterwards,  he  had  had  the  courage  to  bell 
the  cat,  and  afterwards  the  dupes  of  the  impious  fraud 
were  more  wary.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  end 
of  this  popish  imposture.  Whatever  Rome  may  claim 
as  her  abstract  rights  (and  her  asserted  rights  have 
remained  abstract  only  when  she  was  unable  to  make 
them  concrete),  an  effort  to  sell  indulgences  in  Euro- 
pean and  American  countries  in  the  twentieth  century 
by  agents  of  the  Vatican  is  an  inconceivable  possibility. 

Luther  kept  his  part  of  the  contract  with  Miltitz 
in  good  faith  for  a  time.  After  issuing  the  letters  al- 
ready referred  to,  he  kept  the  peace  for  some  months. 
We  can  only  speculate   as  to  how   long  this   silence 

(141) 


142  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

would  have  continued  if  he  had  not  been  called  to 
battle  again  by  an  indirect  attack  upon  him  by  his  old 
friend,  now  become  his  bitter  opponent,  John  Eck. 
Eck,  as  we  have  seen,  had  assailed  him  viciously  after 
the  posting  of  the  ninety-five  theses,  and  he  had  not 
had  the  magnanimity  to  acknowledge  the  wrong  he 
had  done  Luther.  A  man  who  is  unwilling  to  right 
one  wrong  is  generally  ready  to  do  another  wrong. 
Eck  was  evidently  anxious  to  enter  the  lists  against 
Luther.  But  for  reasons  best  known  to  himself  (pos- 
sibly because  he  wished  to  place  Luther  in  the  atti- 
tude of  the  aggressor),  he  did  not  challenge  Luther 
to  open  controversy.  The  method  he  employed  ac- 
complished all  that  he  could  have  wished  in  the  way 
of  open  controversy  with  Luther,  and  reopened  the 
half-closed  breach  between  Luther  and  Rome  and 
broadened  that  breach  ultimately  into  permanent  sep- 
aration. 

Luther  had  a  friend  and  colleague  at  Wittenberg 
whose  name  was  Karlstadt.  At  first  Karlstadt  had 
looked  warily  upon  the  theses  of  Luther.  Later,  how- 
ever, he  had  espoused  those  theses  fully.  He  had  an- 
swered the  "Obelisks,"  which  was  the  title  of  Eck's 
reply  to  Luther's  theses.  He  was  generous  and  im- 
petuous, and  anxious  to  defend  the  Lutheran  conten- 
tions. And  Eck  was  quite  willing  to  meet  Karlstadt. 
He  claimed  to  have  won  victory  in  theological  debates 
in  many  German  universities.  For  some  time  a  public 
disputation  between  Eck  and  Karlstadt  had  been 
planned.  Eck  issued  thirteen  theses  for  which  he  pro- 
posed to  stand.     In  these  he  went  much  further  than 


Luther  in  the  Gathering  Storm.  143 

anything  that  had  been  originally  contemplated  in  his 
debate  with  Karlstadt.  He  called  his  antagonist  the 
special  defender  of  Luther.  The  essence  of  his  con- 
tentions was  the  supremacy  of  the  pope.  Luther  saw 
through  all  this,  and  he  could  not  remain  silent  longer. 
He  felt  that  to  do  so  would  not  only  be  cowardly ;  it 
would  likewise  be  hurtful  to  the  truth  itself.  Eck,  he 
said,  had  let  loose  the  frogs  or  the  flies  intended  for 
him  on  Karlstadt.  He  wrote  a  letter  to  the  elector  in 
which  he  declared  it  had  been  his  intention  to  keep  the 
peace  agreed  upon  by  Miltitz  and  himself,  but  that  as 
Eck  had  now  made  this  impossible,  he  believed  that 
God  would  overrule  it  all.  The  matter  of  victory  in 
the  controversy,  so  far  as  the  comparative  skill  of  the 
contestants  was  involved,  was  not  as  vital  as  the  truth 
itself.  Besides  (and  possibly  this  had  as  much  weight 
with  the  elector  as  any  other  consideration),  it  was 
the  reputation  of  the  University  of  Wittenberg,  the 
elector's  pride,  that  was  attacked. 

Luther  issued  a  challenge  to  Eck.  Let  that  doughty 
warrior  add  Saxony  to  the  long  list  of  his  intellectual 
conquests.  Let  him  rid  his  stomach  of  that  which 
seemed  to  lie  heavily  upon  it.  Luther  issued  a  set  of 
theses  for  which  he  w^as  willing  to  contend,  and  chal- 
lenged Eck  to  meet  him  in  open  discussion  of  these 
propositions.  The  sum  of  these  was  a  denial  of  the 
supremacy  of  the  pope. 

Luther's  friends  were  naturally  solicitous  about  his 
success,  and  also  about  his  personal  safety.  He  was 
wittingly  or  unwittingly  handling  dangerous  explosives. 
In  fact,  he  was  placing  these  explosives  dangerously 


144  ^  -^^/^  ^f  Martin  Luther, 

near  the  very  foundations  of  the  ecclesiastical  struc- 
ture. Luther  prepared  himself  with  great  care.  He 
gave  a  closer  study  than  he  had  ever  before  given  to 
Church  history  and  Church  law,  and  he  found  ample 
evidence  in  both  to  sustain  his  contentions.  The  power 
of  the  pope,  while  it  had  been  a  fact  for  a  thousand 
years,  rested  only  upon  papal  decretals,  and  not  upon 
ecclesiastical  history,  and  was  contrary  to  the  decrees 
of  the  Council  of  Nice  and  to  the  Scriptures. 

The  historic  debate  between  Luther  and  Eck  took 
place  in  the  summer  of  15 19,  beginning  July  4.  The 
place  was  Leipsic,  one  of  the  famous  old  cities  of 
Saxony.  It  was  five  hundred  years  old  at  this  time. 
For  a  hundred  years  it  had  been  the  seat  of  a  noted 
university,  which  still  exists,  and  in  after  times  it  was 
to  be  connected  in  tragic  ways  with  the  great  Reforma- 
tion. In  the  Thirty  Years'  War  it  was  captured  and 
recaptured  by  the  contending  armies,  and  was  almost 
wiped  off  the  map.  Near  here  in  1813  a  three  days' 
battle  was  fought  between  the  army  of  Napoleon  and 
the  allies,  the  result  of  which  was  one  of  the  first 
checks  the  great  Corsican  received  in  his  bloody  prop- 
aganda. The  welcome  Luther  received  in  Leipsic  was 
not  cordial,  but  in  the  course  of  time  the  citizens  of 
the  city  were  ready  to  adopt  the  principles  for  which 
he  contended,  and  their  descendants  have  never  de- 
parted from  those  principles. 

The  debate  was  held  under  the  most  approved  con- 
ditions. It  was  encouraged  by  Duke  George,  the  local 
ruler  of  that  part  of  Saxony,  who  opened  up  Pleisen- 
burg,  one  of  his  castles,   for  the  purpose,  and  many 


Luther  in  the  Gathering  Storm.  145 

distinguished  men  attended  the  discussion.  The 
speeches  were  in  Latin,  and  were  taken  down  by  no- 
taries duly  appointed.  The  old  castle  where  this  de- 
bate took  place  was  still  standing  a  few  years  since. 

A  contemporary  describes  Luther  as  he  appeared  on 
this  occasion.  He  was  a  man  of  medium  height,  thin 
because  of  much  study  and  his  abstemious  habits,  with 
a  pleasant  voice,  an  agreeable  countenance,  and  the 
manners  of  a  gentleman.  Llis  fund  of  knowledge  was 
wonderful.  He  had  a  good  working  knowledge  of 
Hebrew  and  Greek,  and  he  preserved  his  mental  equi- 
librium under  all  the  trying  circumstances  of  the  de- 
bate. The  people  were  told  many  foolish  things  about 
him.  They  attached  a  superstitious  charm  to  a  little 
silver  ring  he  wore  on  one  of  his  fingers;  and  they 
wondered  at  the  frequency  with  which  he  smelled  a 
little  bunch  of  flowers  he  carried  in  his  hand.  A  good 
woman  of  the  city  told  her  friends  that  she  knew  Frau 
Luther,  and  that  the  latter  had  confessed  that  the  devil 
himself  was  the  real  father  of  Martin. 

As  for  the  debate  itself,  it  would  seem  to  us  that, 
while  Luther  had  truth  on  his  side  and  the  greatest 
possible  sincerity,  he  w^as  rather  w^orsted  by  his  bout 
with  Eck.  The  inexorable  logic  of  Rome  was  against 
him.  To  contend,  as  she  did,  that  the  Church  is  not 
confined  to  Rome,  but  is  made  up  of  all  true  believers, 
Greek  and  what  not,  was  an  open  espousal  of  the  doc- 
trines for  which  John  Huss  had  been  burned  at  the 
stake.  The  big-mouthed,  big-bodied,  quick-witted,  un- 
scrupulous Eck  took  advantage  of  this  admission  on 
Luther's  part,  and  called  Luther  a  Bohemian.  Luther 
10 


146  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

sought  with  dubious  success  to  parry  this  thrust.  It 
was  final  and  fatal  to  him  in  the  eyes  of  many  who 
heard  the  debate.  Luther  at  last  acknowledged  that 
councils  could  err,  and  that  the  final  appeal  as  to  mat- 
ters of  faith  must  be  had  to  the  Bible  itself.  He  told 
Eck  in  conclusion  that  he  was  sorry  that  that  individ- 
ual dipped  into  the  Bible  as  the  water  spider  dipped 
into  water,  and  seemed  as  much  afraid  of  the  Word  of 
God  as  the  devil  is  of  the  cross.  As  for  himself,  he 
deferred  to  the  Bible  more  than  to  the  decrees  of  coun- 
cils and  the  bulls  of  popes. 

Luther  returned  to  Wittenberg  much  dejected.  He 
had  been  accompanied  thither  by  some  two  hundred  of 
the  students  of  the  university  and  by  his  Miis  Achates, 
Philip  Melanchthon.  His  feelings  were  not  merely 
the  mortification  one  experiences  who  has  been  defeat- 
ed before  the  public.  He  had  little  of  this  feeling.  His 
purpose  in  all  this  controversy  was  not  victory,  but  the 
establishment  of  the  truth.  He  could  but  see  more  and 
more  that  his  opponents  were  only  intent  on  his  un- 
doing. Logically  he  was  already  out  of  the  Romish 
Church;  the  real  separation  had  already  taken  place: 
the  formal  act  would  follow  soon  enough.  No  fact  in 
all  the  history  of  Luther  fills  the  sympathetic  student 
of  his  life  with  more  admiration  than  the  persistent, 
pathetic  way  in  which  he  clung  to  the  ecclesiastical 
house  in  which  he  was  reared.  He  left  the  mother 
Church  not  with  the  festivities  of  the  prodigal  intent 
upon  spending  his  substance  in  riotous  living,  but  with 
the  sorrowful  tears  of  a  devoted  son  who  is  driven  from 
the  parental  roof. 


Luther  in  the  Gathering  Storm,  147 

But  the  meeting  at  Leipsic  had  not  been  a  failure, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  seeming  popular  effect 
of  the  debate.  The  truth  as  set  forth  by  Luther  did 
not  fall  to  the  ground.  Many  heard  the  debate,  others 
heard  about  it,  and  the  minds  of  many  honest  men 
were  open  to  what  commended  itself  to  every  impartial 
man's  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God.  And  in  the 
course  of  time  influential  men  of  the  nobility  came  to 
the  support  of  the  cause  of  Luther.  Germany  had 
never  submitted  cheerfully  to  the  exactions  and  op- 
pressions of  Rome.  The  love  of  liberty  was  too  strong 
in  the  old  Teutonic  race  for  that ;  and  the  courage  of 
Luther  excited  the  admiration  of  a  people  who  through 
all  their  history,  from  the  days  of  Julius  Csesar  down  to 
this  time,  had  possessed  the  qualities  of  true  soldiers. 

Among  those  attracted  to  Luther  at  this  time  was 
LHrich  von  Hutten.  He  was  of  a  noble  family,  had 
had  a  taste  of  monastic  life  in  his  youth  (coming  out  of 
it  with  thorough  disgust)  studied  law,  traveled  ex- 
tensively for  those  times,  and  was  a  sort  of  literary 
and  theological  free  lance.  In  15 18  he  wrote  at  least 
a  part  of  the  second  series  of  the  "Epistolse  Obscuro- 
rum  Virorum,"  a  set  of  letters  which  in  satire  rival  the 
famous  letters  of  Junius.  These  letters  were  intended 
as  attacks  upon  scholasticism  especially,  and  they  also 
called  attention  in  the  most  sarcastic  way  to  the  errors 
and  abuses  of  Romanism.  Of  course,  in  full  harmony 
with  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  the  Church,  these  letters 
were  publicly  burned  at  the  command  of  the  pope. 
But  to  burn  a  book  or  a  document  does  not  cause  men 
to  forget  it,  and  does  not  destroy  its  influence.    Some- 


148  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

times  the  opposite  effect  results.  Ulrich  von  Hutten 
became  a  fast  friend  of  Luther's,  and  with  character- 
istic impetuousness  offered  to  defend  him  with  his 
sword.  Franz  von  Sickingen,  a  German  noble  of  one 
of  the  Rhine  provinces,  offered  Luther  exile  in  his 
castle,  if  it  should  become  necessary  for  the  reformer 
to  leave  the  dominion  of  Frederick. 

But  there  was  one  friend  upon  whom  Luther  leaned 
through  all  these  troublous  times  and  through  all  the 
years  of  his  after  life.  This  was  Philip  Melanchthon. 
Melanchthon  was  a  marvel  of  precocity.  He  entered 
the  faculty  at  Wittenberg  at  twenty-one,  already  well 
equipped  for  his  place.  He  came  to  the  institution  the 
very  year  that  Luther  posted  his  theses.  The  attach- 
ment between  the  two  men  was  spontaneous  and  al- 
most instantaneous.  The  strong,  angular  Luther,  not 
always  refined  in  his  way  of  putting  the  truth,  though 
always  sincere,  found  in  Melanchthon  the  check  that 
he  needed.  Gentle,  conservative,  refined,  and  more 
learned  in  some  things  than  Luther,  Melanchthon  fur- 
nished the  conservatism  that  Luther  needed.  Melanch- 
thon could  never  have  led  in  the  great  Reformation; 
he  lacked  the  aggressive  initiative  necessary  for  a  work 
like  that.  Without  him,  however,  Luther  might  have 
gone  too  far  and  too  fast.  Luther  was  the  centrifugal 
force,  Melanchthon  the  centripetal,  in  the  great  for- 
ward movement  of  the  Church  at  this  time.  It  is  not 
surprising  that  the  two  became  lifelong  friends.  Such 
friendships  are  common  in  every  age  and  people.  They 
are  essential  to  human  happiness,  and  men  are  the  bet- 
ter for  them. 


Lutlicr  1)1  the  Gathering  Storm.  149 

A  great  political  change  took  place  about  this  time, 
and  one  that  had  much  to  do  with  the  fortunes  of  the 
great  Refonnation.  Maximilian,  the  German  Em- 
peror, died  in  January,  15 19.  It  is  only  a  matter  of 
conjecture  as  to  what  his  attitude  would  have  been 
toward  the  great  Protestant  movement  which  was  just 
beginning  when  he  died.  He  was  a  Catholic,  but  he 
had  no  great  opinion  of  the  popes.  He  was  German 
to  the  core,  and  it  is  certain  that  he  would  not  have 
allowed  Luther  to  fall  unprotected  into  the  hands  of 
Leo. 

Luther  always  spoke  kindly  and  loyally  of  Maxi- 
milian. He  records  this  saying  of  the  emperor: 
'There  are  three  kings  in  Europe,"  said  Maximilian. 
*'I  am  king  of  kings,  who  obey  me  if  they  wish;  the 
king  of  France  is  king  of  donkeys,  who  do  what  he 
commands,  whether  they  like  it  or  not ;  the  King  of  En- 
gland is  king  of  men,  who  obey  him  because  they  love 
their  king  and  their  country.'' 

During  some  months  after  the  death  of  Maximilian 
Frederick  the  Wise,  Luther's  unfailing  friend,  seems 
to  have  exercised  temporarily  the  office  of  royal  execu- 
tive. And  he  might  have  had  the  emperor's  throne 
if  he  had  been  willing.  But  he  was  well  advanced  in 
years  by  this  time,  and  no  doubt  preferred  the  quietude 
of  his  own  little  domain  to  the  turmoil  of  the  empire. 
Through  his  influence  Charles,  already  King  of  Spain, 
was  chosen  to  Maximilian's  place  and  assumed  the 
title  of  Charles  V.  The  pope  opposed  the  choice  of 
Charles.  This  fact  must  have  had  its  influence  in 
shaping  Charles's  attitude  toward   Luther.     He   was 


150  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

a  devout  Catholic,  and  lent  himself  in  the  course  of  his 
reign  quite  fully  to  the  wishes  of  the  papacy ;  but  he 
could  but  feel  kindly  toward  Frederick,  and  show 
some  consideration  to  those  Frederick  favored.  And 
thus  in  this  initial  stage  of  the  great  Reformation,  as 
in  many  of  its  after  stages,  Luther  and  his  followers 
owed  much  to  the  counterplay  of  political  forces  in 
Europe.  Charles  was  an  excellent  prince  in  many  re- 
spects. Coming  to  the  throne  of  the  greatest  empire 
of  modern  Europe  when  only  twenty  years  of  age,  he 
exhibited  from  the  beginning  many  kingly  qualities, 
and  his  reign  was  one  of  the  most  illustrious  in  all 
history.  While  he  never  favored  the  great  Reforma- 
tion from  any  sympathy  with  the  doctrines  for  which 
Luther  stood,  and  while  what  concessions  he  showed 
the  Protestants  from  time  to  time  were  mainly  due 
to  the  necessities  of  his  kingdom  in  his  almost  cease- 
less wars  with  France,  yet  he  was  a  noble  enemy, 
and  Luther  always  honored  him.  As  we  have  seen, 
he  grew  weary  and  surfeited  with  royalty  at  last,  and 
sought  in  a  monastery  the  quiet  which  he  had  never 
known  in  all  his  life. 

There  were  those  who  hoped  for  favor  for  the  Lu- 
theran contentions  from  Charles.  Young,  generous, 
with  every  human  ambition  satisfied,  and  owing  his 
accession  to  the  German  throne  to  Frederick  the  Wise, 
there  seemed  good  reason  to  suppose  that  he  would 
be  magnanimous  in  his  dealings  with  a  movement  that 
really  had  as  one  of  its  political  effects  the  freeing  of 
Germany  from  the  domination  of  Italy.  But  men's 
religious   faith   is  usually  fixed  before  they  reach  the 


Luther  in  the  Gathering  Storm.  151 

age  of  twenty,  provided  they  have  had  any  rehgious 
training  at  all,  and  whatever  changes  take  place  after 
that  age  are  usually  in  the  direction  of  less,  and  not 
more  or  different  faith.  Charles  had  been  trained  a 
Catholic,  and  a  Catholic  he  remained  to  the  day  of  his 
death. 

Luther  was  not  idle  all  this  time.  He  gave  diligent 
attention  to  his  parochial  duties  and  to  the  duties  of 
his  professorship.  He  used  the  press,  and  sent  forth 
many  tracts  and  pamphlets.  About  this  time  he  pub- 
lished a  most  helpful  little  brochure  on  sorrow  which 
helped  many  sad  hearts,  the  elector's  among  the  rest. 
He  realized  that  the  shadow  of  a  possible  martyrdom 
was  over  him,  and  he  felt  like  his  Master,  who  said : 
"I  must  work  the  works  of  him  that  sent  me,  .  .  . 
the  night  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work."  He  did 
not  whine ;  he  did  not  grow  bitter ;  he  did  not  seek  the 
shade  of  some  juniper  tree  and  ask  to  die.  He  was 
subject  to  moods  of  great  depression  in  the  course  of 
his  life,  but  these  usually  came  when  there  was  no  ur- 
gent need  for  immediate  action.  He  illustrated  one  of 
the  paradoxes  of  human  nature.  Strong  men  are  us- 
ually least  troubled  when  outward  conditions  would 
seem  to  afford  greatest  reason  for  being  troubled.  Con- 
strained inaction  makes  strong  men  the  victims  of  their 
own  morbid  feelings.  A  true  soldier  is  happier  on  the 
battlefield  than  inside  the  walls  of  an  enemy's  prison. 

Luther  did  not  cease  his  agitation  with  reference 
to  the  papacy.  To  the  votaries  of  Rome  he  seemed 
perniciously  active.  If  his  enemies  gave  him  no  rest, 
he  gave  them  none.     Already  the  plans  for  his  arrest 


152  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

were  being  matured.  His  recent  opponent,  now  be- 
come his  personal  enemy,  had  gone  to  Rome  to  lay 
the  matter  before  the  pope.  Eck  was  only  too  glad  to 
go  on  this  mission  with  the  indorsement  of  Duke 
George.  One  of  his  contemporaries  said  that  Eck's 
face  was  like  a  butcher's,  and  evidently  his  nature  was 
of  the  same  sort.  He  believed  that  he  had  vanquished 
Luther  in  debate.  If  he  had  been  generous,  this  would 
have  satisfied  him.  But  he  was  too  true  to  the  worst 
teachings  of  Roman  Catholicism  to  be  generous.  Like 
his  superiors,  he  believed  that  the  best  answer  to  Mar- 
tin Luther  was  the  stake.  Such  heretics  deserved  no 
mercy. 

It  is  but  justice  to  the  Romish  hierarchy  to  say  that 
its  attitude  toward  Luther  for  many  months  after  he 
began  his  attack  upon  its  power  was  notably  conserv- 
ative. The  papal  bull  authorizing  the  sale  of  indul- 
gences, which  was  issued  the  latter  part  of  15 18,  more 
than  a  year  after  Luther  had  posted  his  theses,  did  not 
specify  Luther  by  name.  Two  universities,  Cologne 
and  Luvain,  had  condemned  his  teachings,  and  one  of 
the  German  bishops  had  also  condemned  them.  But 
Luther  treated  these  condemnations  with  contempt. 
Two  high  papal  officials  had  been  dispatched  into 
Germany  to  arrange  matters  with  Luther.  The  bull  of 
excommunication,  though  it  came  at  last,  was  long  de- 
layed. 

This  forbearance  is  explained  in  part  by  the- arro- 
gance of  Rome  itself.  Leo  and  his  advisers  regarded 
the  matter  as  too  trivial  to  merit  serious  attention. 
Another  fact  contributed  to  this  state  of  inaction  on 


Lutlicr  ill  the  Gathering  S  tor  in.  153 

the  part  of  the  \^atican.  Luther's  teachings  were  im- 
mensely popular  in  Germany.  He  had  simply  voiced 
the  deepest  convictions  of  the  best  people ;  and  the 
German  princes  were  not  disinclined  to  favor  a  man 
whose  contentions  served  to  magnify  their  power  as 
against  the  power  of  the  pope.  Miltitz  understood  all 
this  when  he  reached  Germany,  and  found,  too,  no 
doubt,  that  the  German  ecclesiastics  were  secretly  fa- 
vorable to  a  man  who  contended  for  the  independence 
of  the  German  clergy,  so  long  hampered  by  the  pre- 
tensions of  the  pope.  Albert,  the  archbishop,  had 
himself  gone  far  enough  to  say  that  the  papal  power 
was  only  an  incident,  and  not  an  essential  to  Chris- 
tianity. A  knowledge  of  all  these  facts  explains  Mil- 
titz's  persistent  effort  to  settle  the  whole  matter  by  ne- 
gotiation. The  personal  hostility  of  Eck  and  others, 
and  Luther's  own  aggressiveness,  made  this  effort  at 
mediation  utterly  abortive. 

Luther's  zeal  was  unremitting.  Every  controversy 
he  had  (and  he  had  many)  only  led  him  to  take  more 
advanced  ground.  He  did  not  deny  his  sympathy  with 
Huss.  "We  are  all  Hussites,"  he  said,  speaking  of 
those  who  agreed  with  him»  "Paul  and  Augustine 
were  Hussites."  His  friends  counseled  him  to  moder- 
ation. "You  can't  make  a  pen  out  of  a  sword,"  he 
answered.  "Jesus  came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a 
sword."  He  admitted  that  he  was  rash,  but  said  that 
his  enemies  knew  it,  too,  and  ought  not  to  stir  up  the 
dog.  His  answers  were  not  always  soft,  and  they  did 
not  turn  away  the  wrath  of  his  opponents.  One  won- 
ders at  the  patience  of  princes  and  Church  dignitaries 


154  ^  -^^/^  of  Martin  Luther. 

under  his  castigation.  He  was  bold,  reckless,  defiant. 
But  his  hot  words  were  forged  in  a  heart  that  was  set 
on  fire  from  heaven  itself. 

Good  men  watched  the  progress  of  the  movement 
and  wondered.  Erasmus,  the  learned  autocrat  of  the 
Humanists,  with  characteristic  caution  did  not  con- 
demn the  agitation,  but  did  not  commit  himself  to  Lu- 
ther's support.  The  good  Staupitz,  Luther's  spiritual 
father,  sought  to  restrain  the  impetuousness  of  his 
young  friend.  About  this  time  the  venerable  man, 
weary  by  reason  of  age,  retired  from  his  place  as  vicar- 
general  of  the  Augustine  order,  and  sought  the  re- 
tirement so  congenial  to  men  of  his  devout  tempera- 
ment when  the  pressure  of  time  is  upon  them.  Spa- 
latin,  the  elector's  chaplain,  was  Luther's  constant 
counselor,  and  always  on  the  side  of  caution  and  pru- 
dence. His  words  had  as  much  weight  with  Luther 
as  the  words  of  any  one  could  have,  since  he  was  clos- 
est to  the  good  Frederick,  to  whose  friendship  Luther 
owed  his  immunity  from  arrest  up  to  this  time.  Me- 
lanchthon,  his  beloved  young  friend,  to  whom  he  gave 
a  warmer  affection  than  he  ever  gave  any  other  man, 
was  close  to  him  and  helped  him  with  his  sympathy  as 
well  as  with  his  knowledge.  He  received  assurances 
of  appreciation  from  the  Bohemians,  and  was  too  sin- 
cere not  to  accept  it  in  generous  kindness. 

Disquieting  rumors  continued  to  come  from  Rome. 
He  had  intimations  through  Spalatin  of  the  storm  that 
was  gathering  at  the  Vatican,  but  these  premonitions 
only  served  to  stir  up  his  spirit  to  more  aggressive  war- 
fare.    The  battle  was  on,  and  it  was  no  longer  a  war 


Luther  in  the  Gathering  Storm.  1 55 

of  defense.  He  now  attacked  the  strongholds  of  the 
papacy. 

In  1520  he  issued  some  notable  publications.  Their 
tenor  was  radical  and  revolutionary.  They  rang  like 
the  bugle  call.  Germany,  Europe,  and  the  Vatican 
could  no  longer  sleep  after  they  were  sent  forth.  Mil- 
titz  could  accomplish  nothing  with  his  efforts  at  medi- 
ation after  this.  The  cautions  of  friends  could  avail 
nothing  now.  Battle  to  ultimate  victory  or  utter  de- 
feat was  inevitable.  The  words  of  Luther  in  these 
publications  thrill  the  student  of  history  after  the 
lapse  of  four  centuries.  These  are  not  the  words  of  a 
wild  fanatic  nor  of  the  bold  politician.  They  throb 
with  the  heart  beat  of  a  man  deliberately  ready  to  shed 
his  blood  for  his  convictions. 

In  the  first  of  these  publications  Luther  makes  a 
vigorous  onslaught  upon  the  claims  of  the  papacy. 
The  pope  is  surrounded  by  three  walls.  The  first  of 
these  is  that  the  spiritual  power  is  superior  to  the  tem- 
poral. The  second  wall  is  the  claim  of  the  pope  to  be 
the  sole  authorized  interpreter  of  the  Jcripture.  The 
third  wall  is  the  asserted  but  unauthorized  right  of  the 
pope  to  call  a  general  council.  He  attacks  these  walls 
one  by  one.  He  denies  the  right  of  the  pope  to  impose 
celibacy  upon  the  priests.  He  deplored  the  immoralities 
of  the  priests.  Marriage  was  objectionable  to  many  of 
them  because  it  would  restrain  their  lustful  liberty.  He 
would  be  glad  to  see  every  convent  in  the  land  turned 
into  a  school.  ]\Ien  and  women  ought  to  be  allowed 
to  enter  and  leave  the  monastic  life  at  will.  He  de- 
plored the  ignorance  of  the  people,  and  the  indifference 


156  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

of  those  In  authority  to  this  ignorance.  He  disputed 
the  claims  of  the  pope  to  exercise  the  exclusive  right 
of  ordination.  German  bishops  need  not  go  to  Rome 
for  ordination.  The  laity  should  have  the  cup  as  well 
as  the  bread  in  the  sacrament.  Emperors  could  call 
general  councils.    Laymen  could  sit  in  those  councils. 

Following  this  notable  publication,  a  little  later  in 
the  same  year  came  his  famous  ''Babylonian  Captiv- 
ity." In  this  he  showed  the  fearful  corruption  of  the 
Church,  especially  with  reference  to  the  sacraments. 

Luther  sent  these  books  to  the  elector,  and  received 
in  return  a  basket  of  game.  Afterwards  Frederick  de- 
clared that  he  saw  nothing  so  very  objectionable  in 
what  Luther  had  written. 

These  publications  created  a  great  sensation.  Four 
thousand  copies  of  them  were  disposed  of  in  a  few 
weeks.  New  editions  were  called  for.  The  people  de- 
voured these  brave  words,  and  admired  the  man  who 
was  brave  enough  to  write  and  print  them. 

Meanwhile  the  pope  had  issued  a  bull  of  excommu- 
nication against  Luther.  This,  which  was  signed  in 
June,  was  borne  to  Germany  by  John  Eck.  That  vin- 
dictive individual  had  accomplished  his  vengeful  mis- 
sion to  the  Vatican.  He  would  now  silence  forever 
the  man  who  had  dared  to  challenge  him  to  debate. 
We  can  only  imagine  how  he  gloated  over  his  triumph 
as  he  returned  from  far-away  Italy  and  reached  Ger- 
many in  the  early  days  of  autumn. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
Luther,  before  the  Diet  of  Worms. 

The  long  delayed  blow  was  ready  to  descend  at  last. 
It  hung  suspended  as  by  a  hair  over  the  devoted  head 
of  Martin  Luther,  the  daring  author  of  the  ninety-five 
theses  and  other  attacks  upon  the  papacy. 

The  bull  of  excomlmiLuiication  was  couched  in  the 
most  solemn  language.  It  called  upon  the  Lord  and 
all  the  holy  apostles  and  all  good  men  to  help  to  de- 
fend the  Church  from  the  wild  boar  that  had  broken 
into  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord,  the  wild  beast  that  was 
ravaging  the  vines.  Forty-one  of  Luther's  conten- 
tions were  singled  out  of  his  works  and  condemned. 
These  he  was  required  to  retract  within  sixty  days,  or 
he  would  be  visited  with  the  punishment  due  such  a 
gross  offender.  The  pope  declared  that  he  had  sought 
by  every  fatherly  means  to  bring  Luther  to  repentance, 
but,  failing  in  all  this,  he  must  protect  the  Church 
against  a  man  who  was  inveighing  against  its  most 
sacred  institutions.  Among  Luther's  propositions 
condemned,  significantly  enough,  was  his  disapproval 
of  the  burning  of  John  Huss.  It  was  easy  enough  to 
infer  from  this  that  a  similar  fate  awaited  Luther  if 
he  persisted  in  his  course. 

Miltitz,  either  because  he  did  not  know  the  mind  of 
the  pope  or  knew  it  better  than  his  contemporaries 
did  and  better  than  subsequent  historians  have  known 
it,  still  insisted  that  the  matter  might  be  adjusted.    At 

(157) 


158  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

his  instance  Luther  wrote  what  seems  to  have  been 
his  last  letter  to  Leo.  This  letter  was  not  calculated 
to  placate  the  papacy.  He  recants  nothing.  On  the 
contrary,  he  turns  preacher  to  the  pope  himself.  He 
sends  Leo  a  copy  of  a  little  book  entitled  ''The  Free- 
dom of  a  Christian."  This  is  a  noble  deliverance,  but 
it  was  not  calculated  to  please  the  taste  of  the  pope. 
After  various  other  statements,  he  declares  that  he  has 
never  said  or  written  anything  that  was  intended  to  be 
a  personal  attack  upon  Leo.  He  regards  that  incum- 
bent of  the  papal  chair  as  the  victim  of  conditions  that 
he  is  not  really  responsible  for,  and  exhorts  Leo  if 
he  cannot  reform  the  corruptions  which  the  pope  him- 
self knows  exist  about  him,  to  vacate  the  papal  see, 
and  thus  escape  all  responsibility  for  those  conditions, 
He  assures  Leo  that  his  war  is  upon  the  system  itself, 
and  not  upon  him.  Under  the  circumstances,  the  bold- 
ness of  this  letter  was  nothing  less  than  audacity.  «  Lu- 
ther's courage  was  of  the  kind  that  grows  stronger 
with  increasing  danger. 

The  death  of  Leo  three  years  after  this  gives  Lu- 
ther's words  to  him  the  solemnity  of  a  prophetic  warn- 
ing. Like  many  of  his  predecessors  and  successors  in 
the  papal  chair,  he  was  chiefly  intent  upon  the  exten- 
sion of  the  territorial  and  temporal  powers  of  the  papal 
see.  He  found  it  possible  very  early  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  V.  to  conclude  a  most  advantageous  alliance 
with  the  young  emperor.  This  agreement  increased 
his  domain  in  Italy.  But  just  when  he  was  rejoicing 
over  the  results  of  this  treaty  he  was  seized  with  a 
rnortal  sickness,  and  died  before  he  could  receive  e^v- 


Luther,  before  the  Diet  of  Worms.  159 

treme  unction.  "Pray  for  me,"  he  said  to  those  about 
him,  "that  I  may  recover  and  make  you  all  happy." 
After  his  death  the  populace  followed  his  body  through 
the  streets  of  the  city  with  insults.  They  could  not 
forgive  him'  for  dying  before  receiving  the  last  rites 
of  the  Church.  They  said  he  had  come  in  like  a  fox, 
reigned  like  a  lion,  and  died  like  a  dog!  Very  different 
was  the  death  and  burial  of  Martin  Luther,  twenty- 
three  years  later. 

The  future  that  Luther  faced  at  this  time  would  have 
driven  a  less  courageous  man  either  to  surrender  or  to 
voluntary  exile.  His  friends,  Frederick  among  them, 
had  hoped  for  favor  from  Charles.  Erasmus  had 
warned  him  against  any  such  expectations,  and  Fred- 
erick, after  returning  from  the  Low  Countries,  whither 
he  had  gone  to  see  Charles,  notified  him  through  Spa- 
latin  that  Charles  would  show  him  no  consideration. 
With  the  power  of  the  greatest  spiritual  ruler  in  all 
the  world  and  the  power  of  the  greatest  monarch  in 
Europe  combined  against  him,  the  poor  peasant  of 
Mansfeld  had  Httle  human  or  worldly  hope.  But  he 
did  not  waver.  In  hours  like  this  he  used  to  nerve 
himself  for  the  battle  that  was  upon  him  with  his  own 
war   song,   his    immortal   version    of   the    forty-sixth 

Psalm  * 

A  mighty  fortress  is  our  God — 

A  refuge  never  failing. 

In  this  fortress  he  found  shelter  and  strength  and 
safety.  All  courage  is  born  of  faith,  and  no  cour- 
age is  so  enduring  as  that  which  is  born  of  faith  in 
God. 


i6o  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

The  papal  bull  gave  him  a  strange  sense  of  freedom. 
One  of  the  ruling  passions  of  his  Hfe  had  been  his 
loyalty  to  the  Church  to  which  he  had  given  his  life. 
Such  loyalty  could  not  be  broken  at  once;  and  he 
could  not  himself  sever  the  ties  of  this  loyalty.  But 
Rome  had  severed  these  ties  and  sent  him  forth  a 
spiritual  outcast.  Henceforth  he  was  free  from  all  ob- 
ligations to  the  Romish  hierarchy.  He  was  responsible 
to  God  alone  now.  His  fidelity  to  the  Church  had  rest- 
ed upon  his  allegiance  to  Christ.  When,  as  Luther 
conceived  it,  the  pope  undertook  to  supersede  Christ, 
he  became  antichrist  to  Luther. 

Of  course  Luther  was  never,  in  all  the  emergencies 
of  his  life,  without  strong  and  influential  friends 
ready  and  willing  to  stand  by  him.  Eck  discovered 
this  when  he  returned  to  Germany  with  the  bull  of  ex- 
communication. In  some  cities  the  feeling  was  so 
strong  that  he  was  in  danger  of  being  mobbed.  He 
said  some  of  the  Wittenberg  students  ''treated  him  in 
a  good-for-nothing  way."  A  man  who  stands  for  lib- 
erty will  always  find  friends  among  the  people.  » Lu- 
ther stood  for  religious  and  civil  liberty,  and  the  com- 
mon people  recognized  him  as  their  champion. 

Events  now  followed  each  other  in  rapid  succession. 
At  first  Luther  refused  to  accept  the  genuineness  of 
the  bull  brought  back  by  Eck.  But  he  was  soon  driven 
from  this  hope.  In  November  he  renewed  his  appeal 
to  a  general  council.  Evidently  he  had  little  hope 
from  this  appeal,  otherwise  he  would  not  have  taken 
his  next  step.  This  was  so  decided  that  it  made  re- 
treat impossible. 


Luther,  before  the  Diet  of  IV onus.  i6i 

This  step  was  taken  on  December  ii,  1520.  On  that 
day,  early  in  the  forenoon,  a  great  crowd  gathered  at 
a  place  not  far  from  the  eastern  gate  of  Wittenberg. 
The  papal  decretals  and  all  the  papal  law  books  were 
piled  in  a  heap  on  the  ground.  Luther  was  accompa- 
nied by  Melanchthon  and  other  professors.  A  torch 
was  applied  to  the  heap  of  books.  When  the  bonfire 
was  fully  kindled  Luther  brought  forward  the  bull  of 
excommunication  against  himself  and  threw  it  into 
the  flames,  exclaiming  as  he  did  so:  "Since  thou  hast 
vexed  the  Holy  One,  may  eternal  fires  destroy  thee !" 
He  afterwards  admitted  to  Staupitz  that  he  trem- 
bled as  he  did  this,  but  declared  that  when  it  was  done 
he  felt  better  than  he  had  ever  felt  before  in  all  his  life. 
The  students  celebrated  the  event  by  marching  through 
the  streets  and  earring  a  great  cartoon  in  the  shape  of 
a  bull,  four  feet  long. 

Conservative  Christians  of  the  twentieth  century 
may  regard  this  burning  of  the  papal  bull  as  a  display 
of  a  barbaric  rather  than  a  Christian  spirit.  But  it 
should  be  remembered  that  Luther  and  his  followers 
had  learned  this  use  of  fire  from  Rome  itself,  and  had 
not  yet  learned  that  other  spirit,  which  Rome  has 
never  taught — the  spirit  of  toleration  and  forbearance. 
The  growth  of  Christian  sentiment  since  that  memor- 
able day  in  the  sixteenth  century  has  been  due  to  the 
convictions  of  the  men  that  kindled  that  bonfire. 

Luther  was  ready  to  defend  his  act.     If  any  wished 

to  know  why  he  had  burned  the  papal  documents,  let 

such  a  one  understand  that  it  was  his  duty  as  a  baptized 

Christian  to  defend  the  Church  against  all  false  doc- 

II 


1 62  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

trines.  He  had  vowed  to  do  this  when  he  had  become 
a  Doctor  of  Theology.  The  pope  had  assumed  ah  the 
authority  of  an  earthly  God.  None  dared  to  ask  him: 
"What  doest  thou  ?"  Was  not  this  "the  abomination  of 
desolation"  spoken  of  by  the  Saviour?  Was  not  this 
the  antichrist  ?  In  a  larger  work,  addressed  to  the  pub- 
lic, he  discusses  more  at  length  the  issues  for  which  he 
stood,  and  plants  himself  uncompromisingly  upon  the 
authority  of  the  Bible  as  against  the  decrees  of  popes 
and  general  councils.  If  any  thought  him  presump- 
tuous, he  would  say  that  he  was  assured  that  he  had 
the  Bible  on  his  side. 

And  for  the  first  time  in  all  his  life  Luther  was  a 
free  man.  He  felt  himself  fully  absolved  from  all  ob- 
ligations to  his  order.  He  retained  the  garb  of  a  monk 
and  lodged  in  the  monastery,  but  he  threw  off  the  slav- 
ery of  the  horoe  and  other  monastic  observances.  He 
declared  that  he  had  enough  real  work  to  do  without 
these  things.  Besides  preaching  and  lecturing,  he  had 
abundant  calls  to  enter  the  arena  of  controversy.  He 
had  a  noted  literary  combat  with  the  Dresden  theo- 
logian, Emser.  Luther  spoke  of  Emser  as  a  "goat," 
and  Emser  retorted  by  calling  Luther  a  "bull."  In 
this  controversy  the  issues  of  the  great  Reformation 
were  thoroughly  thrashed  out.  If  the  debate  had  none 
of  the  refined  qualities  of  academic  discussion,  it  had 
at  least  the  combativeness  which  attracted  popular  in- 
terest and  attention.  The  great  polemic  battles  of  the 
Church  have  not  been  fought  in  classic  Latin  or  Eng- 
lish or  German.  As  long  as  men  are  men,  strong  faith 
and  strong  conviction  cannot  thus  be  voiced. 


Luther,  before  the  Diet  of  Worms.  163 

Germany  was  now  in  a  ferment.  Men  took  up  their 
pens  for  and  against  Luther,  and  were  ready  to  take 
up  their  swords.  The  nation  faced  the  greatest  crisis 
in  its  history.  PoHtical  issues  were  not  alone  involved. 
The  moral  and  spiritual  life  of  a  great  people  was  at 
stake.  It  was  Jehovah's  call  to  the  nations.  Some  of 
them  heard  it,  and  rose  to  enlightenment  and  power. 
Refusing  to  hear,  other  nations  sank  back  into  barba- 
rism or  reaped  the  harvest  of  their  folly  in  blood  and 
revolution.  Carlyle  speaks  of  France  at  this  time,  of 
her  rejection  of  the  light  of  the  great  Reformation,  and 
of  the  awful  judgment  that  followed  in  the  eighteenth 
century. 

A  great  battle  was  raging,  and  Luther  was  in  the 
forefront  of  the  conflict.  The  inspiration  of  potential 
martyrdom  was  upon  him.  He  believed  that  the  end 
of  the  world  was  at  hand.  He  interpreted  the  prophe- 
cies of  Daniel  and  the  second  chapter  of  Thessalonians 
to  mean  this.  Believing  that  his  Lord  was  at  hand,  he 
hastened  to  meet  him.  For  this  reason,  and  because 
he  believed  that  such  a  method  of  propagation  was 
utterly  at  variance  with  the  gospel,  he  discountenanced 
every  effort  and  thought  of  taking  up  arms  in  defense 
of  his  personal  safety  and  the  cause  for  which  he  con- 
tended. There  was  much  bloodshed  in  the  aftertime 
in  consequence  of  the  great  Reformation,  but  this  was 
because  Rome  invoked  the  help  of  the  civil  power  to 
maintain  its  waning  cause. 

The  great  crisis  in  the  life  of  Martin  Luther  was 
now  approaching.  The  papal  bull  had  allowed  sixty 
days  in  which  to  recant,  and  in  addition  sufficient  time 


164  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

for  his  recantation  to  reach  Rome.  Luther  did  not  re- 
cant. There  was  nothing  for  him,  therefore,  but  the 
full  and  final  sentence  of  excommunication.  On  Jan- 
uary 3,  1 52 1,  the  final  word  was  spoken,  and  Luther 
stood  forth  an  ecclesiastical  outlaw.  And  the  papal 
interdict  was  on  all  places  that  might  give  him  shelter. 
Henceforth,  so  far  as  Rome  could  make  it  so,  he  was 
driven  out  like  another  Cain,  to  be  a  fugitive  and  a 
vagabond  in  the  earth.  But  Rome  was  not  so  merciful 
as  was  Jehovah  to  Cain.  Rome's  mark  did  not  pro- 
tect Martin  Luther  from  death,  but  was  a  warrant  of 
death  against  him,  virtually  authorizing  any  of  the 
faithful  to  slay  him.  For  years  afterward  he  was  m 
imminent  danger.  Rome's  thirsty  bloodhounds  were 
constantly  on  his  track. 

In  the  spring  of  this  memorable  year  he  was  haled 
before  the  diet  which  met  at  Worms.  The  princes  of 
the  empire,  presided  over  by  the  young  emperor,  would 
sit  in  judgment  upon  the  peasant  priest  who  had  stirred 
up  so  much  strife  in  Germany. 

We  shall  see  how  Luther  met  this,  the  greatest  crisis 
of  his  life. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
Luther  at  the  Diet  of  Worms. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  effect  of  the  papal  bull 
against  Luther  and  the  interdict  accompanying  it  had 
not,  up  to  this  time,  greatly  endangered  the  personal 
safety  of  the  reformer.  This  ancient  sword  of  the  pa- 
pacy had  lost  its  edge.  Once  it  had  been  the  mightiest 
weapon  of  the  popes.  For  many  centuries  a  decree  of 
this  nature  had  carried  terror  to  the  superstitious, 
trouble  to  kings  and  princes,  and  distress  to  a  whole  na- 
tion. The  unfortunate  and  unscrupulous  John,  who 
ruled  and  misruled  in  England  during  the  early  part  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  had  brought  down  upon  his 
head  and  that  of  his  people  the  interdict.  Dire  conse- 
quences followed.  Churches  were  closed.  Bells  were 
taken  down  from  steeples.  Sacred  emblems  were  re- 
moved from  the  altars.  Christian  burial  was  denied  the 
dead.  Marriages  were  performed  only  in  graveyards. 
Baptism  was  grudgingly  given  to  newly  born  infants. 
The  shadow  of  a  great  curse  seemed  to  hang  over  the 
land. 

But  no  such  consequences  followed  the  proclamation 
of  the  bull  against  Luther  in  Germany.  Eck,  who  had 
brought  it  from  Rome,  was  laughed  at  and  lampooned 
by  the  students  of  the  universities.  The  dignitaries 
of  the  Church  received  him  with  scant  favor.  In  many 
places  the  bull  was  not  published  at  all.  Miltitz,  who 
resented  the  interference  of  Eck  in  a  matter  that  had 

(165) 


1 66  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

been  intrusted  to  him,  gave  little  comfort  to  the  of- 
ficious doctor  of  Leipsic.  Poor  Miltitz  ended  his  mis- 
sion and  his  career  in  a  most  ignoble  way  not  long 
afterwards.  While  intoxicated  he  fell  into  the  Rhine 
and  was  drowned.  Thus  perished  the  German  cham- 
berlain and  trusted  envoy  of  Leo. 

The  favor  of  the  nobility  and  the  best  class  among 
the  scholars  of  Germany  rendered  the  bull  against  Lu- 
ther a  practical  nullity.  He  went  on  with  his  work  un- 
molested and  with  buoyant  spirits.  A  wondrous  trans- 
formation had  taken  place  in  Germany  within  a  few 
years.  The  seeds  of  truth  never  found  a  readier  soil. 
The  great  Reformation  had  virtually  taken  place.  Ger- 
many had  really  broken,  at  least  in  spirit,  with  the 
papacy.  But  Leo  found  an  ally  in  Charles.  The  young 
emperor  had  German  blood  in  his  veins,  but  he  did  not 
have  the  heart  of  a  German.  He  did  not  have  even  a 
thorough  acquaintance  with  the  German  language.  He 
put  a  higher  estimate  upon  his  prerogatives  as  king  of 
Spain  and  Naples  than  upon  his  title  and  restricted 
power  as  emperor  of  Germany.  He  believed  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  faith  with  all  his  soul.  He  was  still 
young,  and  the  young  are  often  more  bigoted  than 
the  old. 

But  Charles  was  a  prudent  person  for  his  age,  and 
while  he  would  have  been  willing  enough  to  turn  Lu- 
ther over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  pope,  he  was 
wise  enough  to  recognize  the  fact  that  the  matter  was 
more  serious  than  the  obduracy  of  just  one  man,  and 
he  too  no  high  dignitary  in  the  Church.  The  estates 
of   Germany  were  too  favorable  to  Luther's   conten- 


Luther  at  the  Diet  of  Worms.  167 

tlons,  and  too  rebellious  at  heart  against  the  pope,  for 
any  summary  disposal  of  the  issues  involved.  What 
was  done  must  be  done  with  the  consent  of  the  Ger- 
man princes.  A  diet  was  summoned,  and  met  at 
Worms  on  January  28,  1521.  . 

Worms  is  a  famous  old  Gerriian  city  in  Hesse- 
Darmstadt,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  historic  Rhine.  In 
modern  times  it  has  lost  mudi  of  its  ancient  standing, 
its  population  being  less  than  one-fourth  of  what  it  was 
about  the  time  Martin  Luther  was  summoned  to  ap- 
pear before  the  diet  here  in  the  spring  of  1521.  Char- 
lemagne and  his  successors  used  to  tarry  here  with 
their  courts  in  the  olden  times,  and  associated  with  the 
place  is  a  famous  old  German  epic  poem,  made  up 
probably  of  other  older  poems,  and  known  to  readers 
of  old  German  literature  as  the  ''Nibelungenlied."  The 
missive  cathedral  was  finished  during  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, after  being  in  process  of  building  nearly  four 
hundred  years.  The  city  has  never  fully  recovered 
from  its  almost  total  destruction  by  the  French  in  1689, 
and  the  new  city  does  not  occupy  precisely  the  same 
site  as  the  old  Worms.  \  monument,  completed  in 
1868,  commemorates  Luther's  appearance  before  the 
diet  here,  really  the  greatest  event  in  the  history  of 
the  old  city. 

The  diet  was  not  an  elective  body,  but  was  really 
feudal  in  its  origin.  In  the  time  of  Luther  it  was  com- 
posed of  the  princes  of  the  several  independent  States 
and  free  cities  of  Germany,  which  were  united  in  the 
strong  confederation  known  as  the  German  Empire. 
The  diet  sat  twice  a  year,  and  the  emperor,  who  was 


i68  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

chosen  by  the  diet,  whenever  there  was  a  vacancy,  pre- 
sided over  its  deHberations.  The  emperor  could  veto 
any  measure  adopted  by  the  diet,  but  he  could  not  mod- 
ify any  of  its  measures.  And  he  could  not  enact  laws 
without  the  consent  of  the  diet.  This  ancient  assembly 
no  longer  exists. 

This  was  the  august  body  before  which  Luther  ap- 
peared at  the  command  of  Charles.  The  decision  to 
summon  Luther  before  the  body  was  not  reached  until 
the  matter  had  been  debated  long  and  anxiously.  Those 
w^ho  favored  the  papal  contentions  opposed  the  sum- 
moning of  Luther  There  were  obvious  reasons  for 
their  opposition.  Luther  had  been  condemned  by  the 
pope.  This  ought  to  suffice  for  the  emperor  and  the 
diet.  An  appearance  before  the  diet  would  have  in 
it  something  of  the  nature  of  an  allowed  appeal,  and 
such  a  heretic  deserved  no  such  right.  It  was  finally 
decided  to  summon  Luther  before  the  diet,  not  for 
the  purpose  of  trial,  but  merely  to  give  him  an  oppor- 
tunity to  recant. 

Luther  had  notified  Frederick  that  he  would  go  if 
summoned  by  the  emperor.  'Tf  he  calls  me,"  he  said, 
"it  is  my  duty  to  go."  His  friends  sought  to  dissuade 
him.  They  assured  him  that  he  would  be  in  imminent 
danger.  The  treachery  in  the  case  of  Huss  was  re- 
called. Luther  was  immovable.  If  the  emperor  sum- 
moned him,  he  regarded  it  as  his  duty  to  go ;  and  Mar- 
tin Luther  was  not  the  man  to  turn  back  from  the  path- 
way of  duty.  God  still  lived,  and  his  trust  was  in  him. 
His  enemies  could  burn  only  his  body;  they  could  not 
burn  the  truth. 


Luther  at  the  Diet  of  Worms,  169 

He  received  the  expected  call  to  appear  before  the 
diet  in  March.  A  royal  herald  brought  the  summons. 
Luther  proceeded  at  once  to  prepare  for  the  journey. 
His  friends  still  reminding  him  of  the  danger,  he  de- 
clared :  ''1  will  go  if  I  must  be  carried  on  my  sick  bed." 
And  later,  when  told  of  the  imminence  of  the  danger, 
he  met  the  statement  with  the  famous  declaration :  "I 
will  go  to  Worms  even  if  there  are  as  many  devils  there 
as  there  are  tiles  on  the  houses !" 

Luther  set  out  for  Worms  late  in  March.  The  city 
of  Wittenberg  furnished  him  a  carriage  and  horses. 
He  was  accompanied  by  a  little  cavalcade  of  his  friends, 
and  his  journey  was  like  a  triumphal  march.  Every- 
where the  people  hailed  him  with  delight.  They  were 
curious  to  see  the  man  who  had  spoken  and  written  so 
boldly  against  the  pope.  At  Erfurt  he  had  a  royal 
welcome.  He  preached  in  the  old  church  where  he 
had  worshiped  in  other  days.  The  people  crowded  to 
hear  him.  There  was  a  crash  in  the  gallery,  and  the 
people  were  in  a  panic.  Luther  quieted  them  by  telling 
them  that  it  was  the  devil  trying  to  break  up  the  meet- 
ing. This  was  Luther's  ready  explanation  of  many 
things  that  happened  in  his  life.  The  students  here  had 
thrown  the  papal  bull  into  the  water  and,  playing  upon 
the  word,  challenged  it  as  it  was  a  ''bubble,"  to  float. 
His  old  friend  Crotus  was  the  rector  of  the  university 
at  that  time.  He  hastened  to  meet  Luther  some  distance 
from  the  city,  and  welcomed  him  as  the  defender  of 
the  truth.  Luther  said  modestly  that  he  was  not  worthy 
of  such  honor.  In  his  sermon,  which  was  on  his  favor- 
ite theme  of  salvation  by  faitli,  he  spoke  of  his  present 


170  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

situation :  "I  will  speak  the  truth,  and  I  must  speak  it,'* 
he  said,    ''For  this  reason  I  am  here." 

He  preached  at  Eisenach,  tenderly  associated  with 
his  school  days,  and  afterwards  fell  sick.  He  was  so 
ill  that  his  friends  became  alarmed  about  his  condition. 
But  bleeding,  the  specific  for  all  diseases  in  those  days 
and  for  many  days  afterwards,  was  resorted  to,  and 
the  next  day,  though  still  weak  and  sick,  he  went  on  his 
way.  Rumors  and  other  evidences  of  danger  increased 
as  he  approached  his  destination.  He  saw  posted  an 
edict  from  Charles  consigning  his  work  to  the  flames 
because  he  had  been  condemned  by  the  pope  as  a  her- 
etic. Whatever  hope  he  may  have  had  at  this  time  as 
to  any  favor  from  the  emperor  was  now  finally  dissi- 
pated. 

But  his  enemies  were  also  alarmed.  They  feared  the 
efifect  of  his  appearance  before  the  diet.  Somehow, 
even  when  men  honestly  believe  a  falsehood,  the  error 
unconsciously  reacts  in  an  unfavorable  way  upon  their 
courage.  Besides,  mlany  of  Luther's  opponents  were 
not  sincere,  except  in  their  purpose  to  destroy  him. 
Rome  has  always  believed  more  in  fear  and  force  than 
in  fair  play  and  justice.  Since  Luther  could  not  be  in- 
timidated and  thus  kept  away  from  the  diet,  Glapio, 
Charles's  confessor,  and  Archbishop  Albert  determined 
to  resort  to  a  ruse  to  prevent  his  coming  and  at  the 
same  time  get  him  fully  in  their  hands.  These  astute 
gentlemen  sent  a  messenger  to  Franz  von  Sickingen, 
the  friend  who  had  offered  Luther  exile  and  protection, 
proposing  that  Luther  meet  their  representatives  in  the 
castle  of  the  old  nobleman.    The  messenger  said  that 


Luther  at  the  Diet  of  Worms.  171 

these  ecclesiastics  thought  well  of  Luther,  and  that  the 
differences  between  him  and  them  could  be  adjusted  in 
a  peaceable  way.  Luther  and  their  representatives 
would  be  under  the  protection  of  Sickingen.  The  ruse 
deceived  the  honest  old  German  and  Bucer,  one  of  Lu- 
ther's sympathizers,  who  had  taken  up  his  lodging  in 
the  castle,  and  Luther  was  notified  hastily  of  the  pro- 
posed conference  and  urged  to  turn  aside  for  the  pur- 
pose. Luther  was  making  his  journey  to  Worms  under 
a  safe-conduct  from  the  emperor,  and  if  he  had  yield- 
ed to  this  arrangement,  he  could  not  have  made  his  way 
thither  in  the  prescribed  time.  He  would  thus  have 
forfeited  the  protection  of  Charles,  and  his  enemies, 
who  were  fully  alert,  could  have  arrested  him  at  once. 
Luther  refused  to  accede  to  this  cunningly  devised 
plan  and  continued  his  journey.  At  night,  as  he  lodged 
in  the  inns  by  the  way,  he  would  take  his  flute  and 
solace  himself  with  its  soft  melody.  The  man's  soul 
went  out  in  its  notes,  now  hopeful,  now  sorrowful, 
and  always  trustful  and  full  of  the  repose  of  a  son  of 
God  who  is  at  peace  with  his  Father.  Memories  of  his 
childhood,  tender  thoughts  of  his  parents,  recollec- 
tions of  his  strange,  divinely  guided  life,  the  friend- 
ships he  had  formled,  the  truth  he  had  found,  the 
threatening  future  before  him — thoughts  like  these 
must  have  swept  through  his  mind  as  he  touched  the 
stops  of  his  favorite  instrument  in  the  gathering  shad- 
ows of  the  lengthening  spring  twilight.  David  of  old, 
when  fleeing  from  Saul,  comforted  his  soul  with  his 
shepherd's  harp.  Martin  Luther,  going  perhaps  to 
his  death,  srathered  strencfth  from  the  notes  of  his  flute 


172  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

for  the  ordeal  awaiting  him.  Great  reformations  and 
great  revivals  would  be  impossible  without  sacred  mu- 
sic. 

A  still  greater  trial  awaited  Luther  before  reaching 
Worms.  A  short  distance  from  the  city  he  received  a 
letter  from  Spalatin  urging  him  not  to  come.  As  Spa- 
latin  might  be  supposed  to  speak  for  the  elector,  this 
was  serious  indeed.  But  Luther  could  not  be  moved. 
He  wondered  at  his  own  courage  afterwards,  and  said 
that  he  was  not  sure  that  he  would  be  equal  to  such  an 
emergency  again.  There  is  a  courage  of  sudden  im- 
pulse; there  is  also  the  courage  of  deliberate  purpose. 
The  one  is  daring,  heedless,  often  blind ;  the  other  is 
cool,  steady,  and  fully  conscious  of  the  danger  in- 
volved. The  one  may  waver ;  the  other  does  not  falter. 
The  faith,  the  purpose,  the  resolve  of  years  entered 
into  Luther's  courage  at  this  moment  of  destiny,  and  a 
divine  anointing  was  on  the  man. 

Luther  entered  Worms  on  the  morning  of  the  i6th. 
A  company  of  his  friends  had  ridden  out  to  meet  him. 
A  great  crowd  gathered  at  the  gate  to  see  him.  Two 
thousand  people  followed  him  in  the  streets.  Men  of 
all  ranks  thronged  about  him.  It  was  as  if  a  royal 
prince  had  entered  the  city.  The  enthusiasm  was  great- 
er than  when  the  emperor  had  come.  A  court  jester 
entered  the  procession  with  a  cross  and  chanted  a  requi- 
em. Possibly  this  fool  of  royal  patronage  thought  to 
play  prophet.  Some  gentlemen  of  the  court  of  Fred- 
erick escorted  him  to  the  house  of  the  Knights  of  St. 
John,  where  he  was  to  lodge  with  two  counselors  of 
the  elector.    As  he  stepped  from  his  carriage  he  said: 


Luther  at  the  Diet  of  Worms.  173 

"God  will  be  with  me."  Alexander,  one  of  the  papal 
representatives,  writing  to  Rome,  said  that  he  looked 
around  with  the  eyes  of  a  demon.  More  than  once 
Luther's  flashing  eyes  had  struck  terror  to  the 
hearts  of  his  enemies. 

He  was  to  appear  before  the  diet  the  next  day.  This 
august  body  met  in  the  palace  of  the  bishop,  not  far 
from  his  lodgings.  Here  the  emperor  held  his  court 
for  the  time.  Luther  was  conducted  to  the  place  by 
side  streets,  the  crowd  being  so  great  along  the  direct 
route  as  to  make  this  necessary.  He  waited  two  hours 
after  reaching  the  palace  before  being  admitted  to  the 
audience  hall.  As  he  was  going  into  the  hall,  tradition 
says  that  a  famous  old  warrior,  George  von  Frunds- 
berg,  slapped  him  on  the  shoulder  and  said  cheeringly : 
"My  poor  monk !  My  poor  monk !  Thou  art  on  thy 
I  way  to  make  such  a  stand  as  I  and  my  knights  have 
never  made  in  our  toughest  battles.  If  thou  art  sure 
of  the  justice  of  thy  cause,  then  forward  in  the  name  of 
God,  and  be  of  good  courage !  God  will  not  forsake 
thee !" 

The  elector  had  given  him  as  his  lawyer  Jerome 
Schurf,  his  Wittenberg  friend  and  associate.  The  pope 
was  represented  by  an  attorney  named  Eck,  but  not  the 
Dr.  Eck  who  had  given  Luther  so  much  trouble  in  the 
past. 

At  last  he  was  called  before  the  body.  The  scene 
was  enough  to  embarrass  a  bolder  man.  Before  him 
were  the  princes  of  all  Germany,  and  the  most  powerful 
sovereign  in  all  Europe — and  he  was  not  before  this 
great  assembly  to  receive  honors,  nor  as  the  represen- 


174  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

tative  of  an  honored  cause.  True,  there  were  among 
the  members  some  who  sympathized  with  him,  and 
many  close  at  hand  who  were  his  ardent  friends. 
Against  him  was  the  Church,  hoary  with  age,  well- 
nigh  supreme  in  power,  and  waiting  only  for  an  oppor- 
tunity to  mete  out  to  him  the  severest  penalties  ever 
visited  upon  the  condemned  heads  of  heretics.  More- 
over, he  stood  at  the  bar  of  the  monarch  who  had  only 
but  yesterday  pronounced  sentence  against  him,  and 
who  declared  that  he  was  ready  to  give  his  life  and  his 
royal  treasures  to  execute  the  Church's  displeasure  upon 
such  a  heretic.  Above  all,  the  cause  for  which  he  had 
already  borne  so  much  was  vitally  involved.  Had  Lu- 
ther wavered  at  this  moment,  the  cause  of  the  great 
Reformation  might  have  been  delayed  a  hundred  years. 
No  sublimer  crisis  has  occurred  in  human  history  since 
Jesus  stood  before  Pilate.  Human  courage,  reenforced 
and  sanctified  by  divine  grace,  has  never  been  put  to 
a  severer  test. 

The  hearing  of  the  first  day  was  short.  Eck,  the  pa- 
pal representative,  put  two  questions  to  Luther.  "Are 
you  the  author  of  these  books  ?"  he  asked  first,  pointing 
to  some  volumes  on  a  bench.  Luther's  attorney  inter- 
posed at  this  point,  and  demanded  that  the  titles  of  the 
books  be  read.  This  was  done,  and  Luther  acknowl- 
edged their  authorship.  "Are  you  willing  to  retract  the 
contents  of  these  books  ?"  was  the  imperious  challenge 
of  the  ecclesiastical  attorney. 

This  summary  way  of  dealing  with  the  question  took 
Luther  by  surprise,  and  his  answer  was  given  in  a  low, 
hesitating  voice.    He  said  that  in  a  miatter  of  such  mo- 


Luther  at  the  Diet  of  Worms.  175 

ment  he  did  not  feel  prepared  to  answer  the  question 
at  once,  and  begged  for  time  to  consider.  There  was 
a  brief  conference,  and  then  Luther  was  informed  that 
the  emperor  had  graciously  granted  his  request.  After 
this  he  was  allowed  to  retire  under  escort,  with  the 
understanding  that  he  would  give  his  answer  the  next 
day. 

An  anxious  night  followed.  Luther  realized  that  he 
would  not  be  allowed  to  plead  for  a  cause  that  was  so 
dear  to  his  heart,  and  that  the  only  hope  before  him, 
speaking  and  seeing  as  men  see,  was  in  complying  with 
the  peremptory  demand  of  the  papal  representative  for 
immediate  retraction  of  the  things  that  he  had  written 
and  spoken  concerning  the  way  of  salvation.  And  we 
may  be  well  assured  that  this  man,  who  had  learned  to 
find  God,  not  by  way  of  popes  and  saints,  living  and 
dead,  but  by  the  way  of  the  Mediator  between  God  and 
men,  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  sought  the  help  of  the  One 
for  whom  he  was  to  witness  on  the  morrow,  it  might 
be  even  unto  death. 

The  morrow  came,  and  with  it  the  great  ordeal  of 
Martin  Luther's  life.  And  his  courage  rose  grandly  to 
the  occasion.  Whatever  embarrassment  he  may  have 
felt  on  the  first  day  was  all  gone  now.  He  went  to 
the  meeting  place  of  the  diet  about  the  middle  of  the 
afternoon,  but  the  April  night  was  closing  in  before  he 
was  given  an  audience.  It  was  the  i8th  day  of  April, 
1 52 1.  While  he  waited  he  talked  cheerfully  and  freely 
with  one  of  the  high  officials  of  the  diet — his  friend  and 
patron  at  Augsburg,  Peutinger.  After  waiting  two 
hours,  he  was  admitted  to  the  hall  where  the  diet  sat 


i;76  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

ready  to  hear  him  and,  so  far  as  he  knew,  to  condemn 
him. 

Eck  began  at  once  to  censure  him  for  asking  time  to 
consider  his  answer.  He  then  put  the  second  question 
of  the  previous  day  in  a  modified  and  reasonable  form. 
"Dost  thou  defend  all  the  books  thou  dost  acknowledge 
to  be  thine,  or  recant  some  parts?"  asked  the  papal  at- 
torney. 

Luther  answered  these  questions  specifically  and 
courageously.  He  spoke  in  Latin  to  accommodate 
Charles,  who  had  little  knowledge  of  German,  and  no 
taste  whatever  for  that  tongue.  His  words  have  been 
preserved,  and  are  worthy  of  being  kept  in  everlast- 
ing remembrance.    This  was  his  defense : 

Most  serene  Emperor,  and  you  illustrious  Princes  and  gra- 
cious Lords,  I  this  day  appear  before  you  in  all  humility,  ac- 
cording to  your  command,  and  I  implore  your  majesty  and 
your  august  highness,  by  the  mercies  of  God  to  listen  with  fa- 
vor to  the  defense  of  a  cause  which  I  am  well  assured  is  just 
and  right.  I  ask  pardon  if,  by  reason  of  my  ignorance,  I  am 
wanting  in  manners  which  befit  a  court,  for  I  have  not  been 
brought  up  in  kings'  palaces,  but  in  the  seclusion  of  a  cloister. 

Two  questions  were  yesterday  put  to  me  by  his  imperial 
majesty.  The  first,  whether  I  was  the  author  of  the  books 
whose  titles  were  read ;  the  second,  whether  I  wished  to  re- 
voke or  defend  the  doctrine  I  have  taught.  I  answered  the 
first,  and  I  adhere  to  that  answer. 

As  to  the  second,  I  have  composed  writings  on  very  dif- 
ferent subjects.  In  some  I  have  discussed  faith  and  good 
works  in  a  spirit  at  once  so  pure,  clear,  and  Christian  that  even 
my  adversaries  themselves,  far  from  finding  anything  to  cen- 
sure, confess  that  these  writings  are  profitable  and  deserve  to 
be  perused  by  devout  persons.  The  pope's  bull,  violent  as  it 
is,  acknowledges  this.    What,  then,  should  I  be  doing  if  I  >verc 


Luther  at  the  Diet  of  Worms.  177 

to  retract  these  writings !  Wretched  man !  I  alone  of  all  men 
living  should  be  abandoning  truths  approved  by  the  unanimous 
voice  of  friends  and  enemies,  and  opposing  doctrines  that  the 
whole  world  glories  in  confessing. 

I  have  composed,  secondly,  certain  works  against  popery, 
wherein  I  have  attacked  such  as  by  false  doctrines,  irregular 
lives,  and  scandalous  examples  afHict  the  Christian  world  and 
ruin  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men.  And  is  not  this  confirmed 
by  the  grief  of  all  who  fear  God?  Is  it  not  manifest  that  the 
laws  and  human  doctrines  of  the  pope  entangle,  vex,  and  dis- 
tress the  consciences  of  the  faithful,  whilst  the  crying  and  end- 
less extortions  of  Rome  engulf  the  property  and  wealth  of 
Christendom,  and  more  particularly  of  this  illustrious  nation  ? 

If  I  were  to  revoke  what  I  have  written  on  that  subject, 
what  should  I  do  but  strengthen  this  tyranny  and  open  a 
wider  door  to  so  many  and  flagrant  impieties?  Bearing  down 
all  resistance  with  fresh  fury,  we  should  behold  these  proud 
men  swell,  foam,  and  rage  more  than  ever.  And  not  merely 
would  the  yoke  which  now  weighs  down  Christians  be  made 
more  grinding  by  my  retraction,  it  would  thereby  become, 
so  to  speak,  lawful;  for  by  my  retraction  it  would  receive 
confirmation  from  your  most  serene  majesty  and  all  the 
States  of  the  empire.  Great  God !  I  should  be  like  an  in- 
famous cloak,  used  to  hide  and  cover  over  every  kind  of 
malice  and  tyranny. 

In  the  third  and  last  place,  I  have  written  some  books 
against  private  individuals  who  had  undertaken  to  defend  the 
tyranny  of  Rome  by  destroying  the  faith.  I  freely  confess 
that  I  may  have  attacked  such  persons  with  more  violence 
than  was  consistent  with  my  profession  as  an  ecclesiastic.  I 
do  not  think  myself  as  a  saint,  but  neither  can  I  retract  these 
books,  because  I  should  by  so  doing  sanction  the  impieties  of 
my  opponents,  and  they  would  thence  take  occasion  to  crush 
God's  people  with  still  more  cruelty. 

Yet,  as  I  am  a  mere  man  and  not  God,  I  will  defend  my- 
self after  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  said:  "If  I  have 
spoken    evil,    bear    witness    against   me."      How    much    more 

12 


178  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

should  I,  who  am  but  dust  and  ashes  and  so  prone  to  error, 
desire  that  every  one  should  bring  forward  what  he  can 
against  my  doctrine. 

Therefore,  most  serene  emperor  and  you  illustrious  princes 
and  all,  whether  high  or  low,  who  hear  me,  I  implore  you  by 
the  mercies  of  God  to  prove  to  me  by  the  writings  of  the 
prophets  and  apostles  that  I  am  in  error.  As  soon  as  I  shall 
be  convinced  I  will  instantly  retract  all  my  errors,  and  will 
myself  be  the  first  to  seize  my  writings  and  commit  them  to 
the  flames. 

What  I  have  just  said  I  think  will  clearly  show  that  I  have 
well  considered  and  weighed  the  dangers  to  which  I  am 
exposing  myself;  but,  far  from  being  dismayed  by  them,  I 
rejoice  exceedingly  to  see  the  gospel  as  of  old  a  cause  of 
disturbance  and  disagreement.  It  is  the  character  and  destiny 
of  God's  Word.  "I  came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword,"  saith 
Jesus  Christ.  God  is  wonderful  and  awful  in  his  counsels. 
Let  us  have  a  care,  lest  in  our  endeavors  to  arrest  discord 
we  be  found  to  fight  against  the  Holy  Word  of  God  and  bring 
down  upon  our  heads  a  frightful  deluge  of  inextricable  dangers, 
present  disaster,  and  everlasting  desolations.  Let  us  have  a 
care  lest  the  reign  of  the  young  and  noble  prince,  the  Emperor 
Charles,  on  whom,  next  to  God,  we  build  so  many  hopes, 
should  not  only  commence  but  continue  and  terminate  its 
course  under  the  most  fatal  auspices.  I  might  cite  examples, 
drawn  from  the  oracles  of  God.  I  might  speak  of  Pharaoh, 
of  kings  of  Babylon,  of  Israel,  who  were  never  more  con- 
tributing to  their  own  ruin  than  when  by  measures  in  appear- 
ance most  prudent  they  sought  to  establish  their  authority! 
God  removeth  the  moimtains,  and  they  know  not. 

In  speaking  thus  I  do  not  suppose  that  such  noble  princes 
have  need  of  my  poor  judgment;  but  I  wish  to  acquit  myself 
of  a  duty  that  Germany  has  a  right  to  expect  from  her  chil- 
dren. And  so,  commending  myself  to  your  august  majesty 
and  your  most  serene  highnesses,  I  beseech  you  in  all  humility 
not  to  permit  the  hatred  of  my  enemies  to  rain  upon  me  an 
indignation  I  have  not  deserved. 


Luther  at  the  Diet  of  Worms,  179 

After  Luther  had  finished  this  address  and  had  re- 
peated it  in  German  the  prince  held  a  short  consulta- 
tion, and  then  Eck,  speaking  for  the  emperor,  re- 
buked him  sharply  for  calling  in  question  the  decisions 
of  councils  and  relying  upon  Scriptures  to  sustain  his 
heresies,  already  adjudged  as  such  by  Rome.  He 
then  demanded  an  answer  "without  horns." 

This  evidently  aroused  the  hot-blooded  Luther. 
"Since  you  ask  it,"  said  the  reformer,  "you  shall  have 
an  answer  without  horns  or  teeth.  I  cannot  and  will 
not  retract  anything."  He  declared  that  he  could  not 
allow  councils  to  dictate  his  faith;  they  had  not  been 
consistent  with  themselves.  Eck  denied  this,  and  Lu- 
ther declared  his  readiness  to  prove  it.  Badgered  fur- 
ther by  the  papal  attorney,  he  uttered  those  famous 
words :  "Unless  I  be  convinced  by  Scripture  and  reason, 
I  neither  can  nor  dare  retract  anything,  for  my  con- 
science is  a  captive  to  God's  Word.  And  it  is  neither 
safe  nor  right  to  go  against  conscience.  There  I  take 
my  stand.  I  can  do  no  otherwise.  God  help  me ! 
Amen." 

This  defense  was  the  Magna  Charta  of  Protestant- 
ism. It  asserted  the  superiority  of  the  Bible  over 
popes  and  general  councils.  It  declared  the  right  of 
private  judgment.  It  announced  the  freedom  of  faith. 
It  set  at  naught  the  teachings  of  the  Romish  hierarchy 
for  ten  centuries.  Its  boldness  and  clearness  of  per- 
ception astonish  us  even  now. 

Of  course  the  address  made  a  profound  impression. 
There  was  a  moral  grandeur  about  the  man  that  over- 
awed   the   assembly.      Friends    and    foes    alike    were 


i8o  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

astonished.  Luther's  manner  was  thoroughly  devout. 
He  spoke  as  one  who  is  inspired.  Even  Charles  was 
impressed,  though  by  no  means  convinced.  Only  the 
Italians  and  Spaniards  present  mocked.  Some  open 
friends  and  more  secret  ones  were  made.  The  ar- 
raignment of  Luther — the  noble,  undaunted  champion 
— before  this  assembly  of  princes  only  forwarded  the 
cause  for  which  he  stood. 

After  Luther's  hearing  before  the  diet  he  was  ac- 
companied to  his  quarters  by  two  officers.  This  fact 
led  to  the  impression  that  he  had  been  spirited  away 
as  a  prisoner,  and  much  concern  was  felt  by  his 
friends.  But  he  suffered  no  harm  at  the  hands  of  his 
guard,  and  the  emperor  kept  faith  with  him  in  the 
matter  of  his  personal  protection.  Charles's  Romish 
advisers  counseled  a  different  course,  urging  that  a 
promise  made  a  heretic  was  not  binding,  and  that  the 
interests  of  the  Church  demanded  that  Luther  should 
be  disposed  of  at  once.  And  Catholic  historians  have 
asserted,  and  seemed  to  take  special  pleasure  in  the 
record,  that  late  in  life  Charles  regretted  that  he  did 
not  arrest  Luther  at  once  and  turn  him  over  to  the 
will  of  the  Romish  hierarchy.  Thus  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church  has  not  been  satisfied  with  influencing  the 
whole  life  of  Charles  and  the  administration  of  his 
temporal  power;  the  Church  covers  his  name  with  in- 
famy in  order  to  show  his  loyalty. 

Luther  returned  to  his  lodgings  rejoicing  in  spirit. 
The  man  who  saves  his  life  at  the  expense  of  con- 
science may  find  pleasure;  the  deeper  joy  is  his  who 
places  all  upon  the  altar  of  his  faith.     "Thank  God,  it 


Luther  at  the  Diet  of  Worms,  i8i 

is  over!"  he  exclaimed  repeatedly.  And  his  friends 
rejoiced  with  him.  Frederick  was  delighted  with  his 
courage.  The  old  Duke  of  Brunswick,  though  not  an 
adherent,  sent  him  refreshments  as  a  token  of  his  sym- 
pathy with  his  spirit. 

Another  and  final  effort  was  made  to  reach  a  settle- 
ment of  the  dispute.  Some  of  the  highest  dignitaries  in 
the  Church  in  Germany  made  advances  to  Luther. 
They  proposed  that  if  he  would  make  such  admissions 
as  they  suggested,  the  matter  could  be  arranged  with 
Charles,  and  the  peace  of  the  Church  and  nation  pre- 
served. Luther  was  not  obdurate,  but  he  saw  no  place 
for  either  retreat  or  compromise.  The  effort  at  a  settle- 
ment therefore  came  to  nothing. 

Luther  asked  permission  of  Charles  to  return  to 
Wittenberg,  and  the  request  was  granted.  He  set  off 
for  home  and  his  work  after  tarrying  some  ten  days  in 
Worms.  But  he  did  not  reach  there  in  several  months. 
He  disappeared  on  his  way  to  his  old  quarters,  and  for 
a  long  and  anxious  season  neither  his  friends  nor  his 
enemies  knew  his  whereabouts  or  his  fate. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Luther  at  the  Wartburg,  and  After. 

As  willing  as  Frederick  was  to  protect  Luther  in 
his  work  and  residence  at  Wittenberg,  he  realized  that 
if  the  emperor  issued  a  decree  against  the  reformer 
making  fully  effective  the  ban  of  the  pope,  it  would  be 
difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  him  to  save  Luther  from 
capture.  The  imperial  edict  came  soon  enough,  but 
not  until  Luther  had  left  Worms.  It  was  dated  the 
8th  of  May,  but  was  not  issued  until  twenty  days  later. 
Its  proclamation  was  postponed  until  after  many  of 
the  members  of  the  diet  had  taken  their  departure,  and 
yet,  when  it  was  published,  it  purported  to  have  the 
unanimous  approval  of  the  body.  It  was  drawn  by 
Alexander,  one  of  the  papal  representatives,  and  was 
drastic  enough  to  satisfy  all  the  demands  of  the  papacy. 
It  put  the  ban  and  double  ban  upon  Luther,  and  for- 
bade all  places  and  persons  from  sheltering  him  or 
aiding  him  in  any  v/ay.  All  loyal  subjects  were  com- 
manded to  arrest  him  and  to  deliver  him  up  to  the 
emperor,  which  of  course  meant  his  delivery  to  his 
Romish  foes.  If  this  imperial  mandate  had  been  exe- 
cuted Martin  Luther  the  great  reformer  would  also 
have  been  Martin  Luther  the  martyr.  Luther  knew 
this.  In  his  address  before  the  Diet  of  Worms  he  made 
no  whining  appeal  for  mercy,  and  afterwards,  in  the 
exultation  of  soul  that  followed  the  hour  of  his  trial 
and  of  his  triumph  as  well,  he  declared  that  if  he  had  a 

(182) 


Luther  at  the  IVartburg,  and  After,        183 

hundred  heads,  he  would  suffer  them  all  to  be  cut  oft* 
before  he  would  recant. 

But  the  fact  must  be  noted  again  that  the  Romish 
representatives  and  Charles,  who  was  under  their  in- 
fluence, showed  a  surprising  degree  of  forbearance  to- 
ward Luther.  In  the  last  chapter  mention  was  made 
of  the  final  effort  to  bring  Luther  to  such  concessions 
as  would  render  it  possible  for  the  emperor  to  extend 
him  his  favor  and  protection.  In  this  effort  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Treves,  a  worthy  ecclesiastic,  had  taken  a 
leading  part.  Luther  had  appealed  to  a  general  coun- 
cil. The  parties  who  conducted  the  negotiations  with 
Luther  offered  to  secure  this,  though  they  knew  that 
the  pope  would  not  readily  consent.  Luther  refused  to 
submit  to  even  the  decision  of  the  general  council,  if  its 
decisions  were  not  fully  sustained  by  Scripture.  In 
fact,  it  was  his  insistence  on  the  authority  of  the  Bi- 
ble that  finally  determined  the  issue.  **Why  appeal  to 
the  Bible?"  exclaimed  Eck.  "That  is  the  source  of  all 
heresies."  Alexander  and  Cochlaeus,  as  well  as  other 
Romanists,  took  part  in  the  various  private  confer- 
ences. The  opinion  Alexander  entertained  of  Luther 
was  fully  expressed  in  the  imperial  edict,  which  he 
prepared.  In  this  document  Luther  was  characterized 
as  Satan  himself,  a  madman,  a  person  who  taught  trea- 
son to  the  State  and  disloyalty  and  destruction  to  Chris- 
tianity itself;  in  fact,  the  vocabulary  of  Romish  denun- 
ciation was  drawn  upon  in  full  measure  to  furnish  epi- 
thets against  the  recalcitrant  Luther. 

Luther  left  Worms  on  the  26th  of  April  (Friday 
morning).     His  safe-conduct  allowed  him  twenty-one 


184  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

days  for  his  return  journey,  but  forbade  his  preaching 
by  the  way.  Much  history  had  been  made  during  those 
epochal  days  in  Worms.  Perhaps  it  would  be  too  much 
to  say  that  the  fate  of  the  great  Reformation  depended 
upon  his  decision  and  conduct  before  the  diet.  The 
movement  had  progressed  so  far  now  that  its  success 
or  failure  did  not  hinge  upon  any  one  man's  life  or 
death.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  however,  that  if  Lu- 
ther had  yielded  to  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon 
him  at  Worms  (pressure  of  evers^  conceivable  sort) 
the  mighty  movement  would  have  been  retarded,  though 
it  could  never  have  been  defeated.  Two  factors  usually 
control  in  all  popular  movements — personal  leadership 
and  the  principles  embodied  in  the  movement.  The 
outcome  of  a  political  or  moral  revolution  is  always  un- 
certain when  the  personal  element  enters  into  it  more 
than  does  the  question  of  principle.  The  empire  of 
Napoleon  fell  with  his  downfall.  England  returned  by 
natural  gravitation  to  the  sway  of  the  Stuarts  after  the 
death  of  Oliver  Cromwell.  Martin  Luther,  while  the 
real  leader  of  the  Reformation,  never  aspired  to  lead- 
ership nor  to  place  of  prominence ;  and  the  truths  for 
which  he  stood  were  always  more  powerful  in  the 
movement  than  was  his  personality.  Hence  as  impor- 
tant as  his  leadership,  that  leadership  was  not  abso- 
lutely essential  to  the  movement  at  this  stage  of  its 
history  and  henceforward. 

Luther  parted  tenderly  with  his  friends  at  Worms. 
Some  score  of  them  accompanied  him  as  he  took  his 
leave  of  a  place  that  would  be  famous  in  all  the  after- 
time  because  of  his  fidelity  to  his  convictions  and  his 


Luther  at  the  Wartbiirg,  and  After.        185 

sublime  moral  courage  in  the  memorable  scene  before 
the  great  assembly  of  princes  met  there  to  decide  his 
fate  and  the  fate  of  the  great  Reformation.  Sturm,  a 
royal  herald,  accompanied  him  for  some  distance.  This 
official  was  won  over  to  the  truth  as  Luther  saw  and 
taught  it,  and  when  Luther  dismissed  him  the  two  em- 
braced each  other.  Luther,  like  Paul,  had  won  an- 
other Onesimus  in  bonds.  All  along  the  way  Luther 
was  received  with  distinguished  honors.  Churches 
were  opened  to  him.  At  Llirschfield  the  abbot  re- 
ceived him  most  affectionately,  and  he  preached  in  the 
church  despite  the  emperor's  orders  to  the  contrary. 
At  Eisenach,  too,  he  proclaimed  the  gospel  to  his  old 
friends.  The  youth  that  had  sung  for  his  bread  on 
the  streets  was  now  dispensing  the  bread  of  life  to 
some,  perhaps,  who  had  been  kind  to  him  in  the  strug- 
gling days  of  his  poverty. 

After  leaving  Worms,  Luther  wrote  a  most  respect- 
ful letter  to  the  emperor.  In  it  he  defines  his  attitude 
toward  the  temporal  powers  in  a  way  that  harmonizes 
thoroughly  with  the  teachings  of  Scripture.  He  as- 
sures Charles  that  he  is  willing  to  render  him  all  possi- 
ble obedience,  the  only  limit  to  that  obedience  being  the 
authority  of  God's  Word.  This  contention  and  de- 
fense, as  true  and  just  as  they  were,  and  as  manifestly 
so  to  us,  could  make  no  effective  appeal  to  a  man  who 
had  turned  over  the  keeping  of  his  conscience  to  a 
Church  that  refused  then,  as  now,  to  recognize  the 
supreme  authority  of  the  Bible. 

He  wrote  a  letter  of  similar  import  to  the  members 
of  the  diet,  and  thus  to  the  German  people.     In  a  let- 


i86  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

ter  to  Spalatin  he  justifies  his  preaching,  which  was  a 
clear  violation  of  his  instructions  from  the  emperor, 
on  the  ground  that  the  gospel  cannot  be  restrained  by 
any  human  authority. 

Leaving  Eisenach,  he  turned  aside  to  see  some  of 
his  father's  relatives  at  Mohra.  After  a  short  stay 
with  them,  where  he  received  a  welcome  that  was  es- 
pecially grateful  to  his  feelings  at  this  time,  he  re- 
sumed his  journey.  He  was  accompanied  by  his 
brother  James  and  Amsdorf,  and  one  or  two  others. 
At  a  lonely  spot  in  the  Thuringian  Forest,  near  an 
abandoned  old  chapel,  where  the  road  runs  through  a 
dark  ravine  following  the  winding  course  of  a  small 
streami,  the  company  was  suddenly  set  upon  by  a  num- 
ber of  masked  men,  who  with  rough  language  demand- 
ed the  surrender  of  Luther,  and  helped  him,  not  too 
gently,  to  dismount  from  his  vehicle.  The  other  mem- 
bers of  Luther's  party  fled  precipitately,  and  the  coach- 
man used  to  tell  how  Luther  himself  was  in  such  great 
haste  that  he  left  behind  him  a  white  hat  he  had  been 
wearing.  The  coachman  himself  whipped  his  horses 
into  a  gallop  and  got  away  from  the  spot  as  fast  as 
possible.  The  stories  these  fugitives  told  caused  wide- 
spread alarm,  and  the  impression  became  general  that 
the  enemies  of  Luther  had  captured  and  made  way  with 
him. 

In  the  meantime  Luther  himself  was  well  cared  for. 
His  captors  furnished  him  a  horse  to  ride,  and  pro- 
ceeded, with  many  intentional  wanderings  through  the 
woods  so  as  to  evade  all  possible  pursuit,  to  the  old 
castle  of  the  Wartburg,  which  stood  on  a  high  hill  over- 


Luther  at  the  Wartburg,  and  After,  187 

looking  Eisenach,  some  eight  miles  away,  and  much 
of  the  surrounding  country.  The  company  reached  this 
retreat  about  ten  o'clock  at  night.  Luther  was  much 
fatigued.  He  was  not  an  experienced  horseman,  and 
this  rough  ride  through  the  dark  wood  well-nigh  ex- 
hausted him.  Once  he  was  allowed  to  dismount  and 
rest  on  the  ground  a  while,  and  he  drank  water  from  a 
spring  which  is  still  called  Luther's  spring. 

The  castle  of  the  Wartburg,  where  Luther  now 
found  himself  in  quasi  captivity,  had  a  history  of  its 
own.  It  was  five  hundred  years  old.  Here  some  cen- 
turies before  a  famous  contest  had  taken  place  among 
the  minnesingers,  those  wandering  bards  and  musi- 
cians of  the  Middle  Ages.  Here  Elizabeth,  one  of  the 
most  honored  of  the  German  saints  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  had  lived  in  other  days.  Now  it  was  to  be- 
come for  a  memorable  while  the  home  and  hiding-place 
of  Martin  Luther — his  Patmos,  as  he  called  it.  It  was 
an  ideal  retreat.  All  about  were  forest-clad  hills,  with 
little  valleys  between,  rejoicing  now  in  the  fast  green- 
ing foliage  of  a  German  May,  and  ringing  with  the 
melody  of  birds — the  nightingale  and  the  lark  and 
their  companions — who  had  come  again  from  the  far 
south  to  make  glad  the  summertime  of  the  north. 
There  were  flowers,  too,  of  which  Luther  was  always 
fond,  and  the  dawn  and  the  stars  looked  into  his  room 
through  windows  that  were  more  hospitable  to  the  light 
than  the  windows  of  his  monastery.  He  loved  nature 
in  all  her  moods  and  seasons.  In  day  and  night,  in 
spring  and  summer  and  autumn  and  winter,  in  wood 
and  field  and  stream,  and  in  sky  and  cloud  and  storm 


i88  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

he  saw  the  hand  of  God,  and  heard  his  voice  in  bird- 
songs,  the  murmur  of  the  wind  and  brook,  and  the 
pealing  thunders  of  the  summer  clouds  echoing  among 
the  hills  about  the  old  castle. 

And  he  was  safe.  As  a  knight-prisoner  the  emis- 
saries of  the  pope  and  the  officials  of  the  emperor 
would  not  molest  him.  Only  a  few  knew  his  where- 
abouts. This  was  Frederick's  plan  for  saving  him  from 
the  hands  of  the  Romanists.  Some  have  thought  that 
even  Luther  himself  did  not  know  how  all  this  came 
about;  but  this  seems  improbable.  Indeed,  it  is  prac- 
tically certain  that  he  was  in  the  elector's  confidence  in 
the  scheme,  and  that  he  was  a  willing  captive  in  the 
hands  of  the  best  political  friend  he  had  ever  had. 
All  Germany  wondered  where  he  was.  His  friends 
charged  the  Romanists  with  foul  play.  A  deeper  re- 
sentment was  thus  aroused  against  those  who  had 
sought  to  crush  him.  In  hiding  he  helped  the  cause 
more  than  in  public. 

His  entertainment  was  royal.  This  son  of  a  peasant 
had  never  fared  so  well  in  all  his  life  before.  His  table 
was  well  supplied  with  substantial  and  dainties,  and 
he  says  that  two  sons  of  noblemen  served  him  at  table. 
The  poor  ascetic  was  not  accustomed  to  such  a  mode  of 
life,  to  such  luxuries  and  dainties,  and  evidently  suf- 
fered from  dyspepsia  in  consequence  of  his  rich  fare. 
Some  of  the  traditions  about  his  life  here  are  not  au- 
thentic. For  instance,  the  old  story  about  his  seeing 
the  devil  and  throwing  his  inkstand  at  him  is  not  well 
sustained.  But  he  certainly  passed  through  many 
mental  and  spiritual   struggles,  some   of  which   were 


Luther  at  the  Wartburg,  and  After.        189 

due  to  his  unwonted  indulgence  in  high  Hving.  Not 
many  men  have  been  wise  enough  ahvays  to  distinguish 
between  their  depression  or  elation,  superinduced  by 
physical  causes,  and  those  purely  spiritual  states  which 
are  caused  by  influences  that  are  outside  the  body  itself. 
The  religion  of  the  nerves  is  largely  even  yet  an  un- 
explored realm.  Some  have  regarded  Luther's  faith 
in  the  powers  of  Satan  as  excessively  realistic;  but  it 
at  least  saved  him  from  gross  superstition.  He  heard 
strange  noises  in  his  room  at  night.  A  bag  of  nuts 
would  become  strangely  active  and  noisy.  Practical 
people  have  suggested  that  rats  were  the  disturbing 
cause.  Perhaps  the  rodents  about  the  Wartburg 
were  larger,  because  better  fed,  than  those  which  in- 
fested the  monastic  quarters  of  Luther  at  Wittenberg. 
Luther  discarded  all  such  facts  and  conjectures  and 
settled  the  matter  at  once  by  attributing  the  sounds  to 
the  devil  himself.  But  he  believed  in  the  divine  more 
than  in  the  human  and  the  diabolical,  so  he  was  saved 
from  hopeless,  helpless  alarm.  True  faith  is  the  only 
remedy  for  superstition ;  but  true  faith  has  had  to 
shake  off  many  a  fungus  growth. 

Luther  enjoyed  great  freedom  at  the  castle.  He 
left  ofT  his  monkish  garb,  grew  an  ample  beard,  went 
hunting,  and  was  so  changed  in  appearance  that  his 
most  intimate  friends  would  hardly  have  known  him. 
He  dressed  as  a  knight,  wore  a  sword  at  his  side,  and 
was  known  as  Squire  George. 

But  he  did  something  m'ore  than  live  a  round  of 
luxurious  indolence.  In  no  period  of  his  life  was  he 
more  active,  and  some  of  the  monumental  work  of  his 


190  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

marvelous  career  was  done  during  those  months  in  this 
castle  home. 

It  was  several  months  after  Luther's  sequestration 
before  his  friends  and  his  foes  knew  the  place  of  his 
concealment.  But  it  was  not  very  long  before  his  foes 
especially  knew  that  he  was  neither  dead  nor  dumb.  He 
evidently  had  constant  though  clandestine  communica- 
cation  with  the  outside  world.  He  was  in  regular  cor- 
respondence with  Spalatin.  He  also  wrote  to  many  of 
his  friends.  He  knew  what  was  going  on  in  the 
Churches,  and  he  took  the  keenest  possible  interest  in 
everything  connected  with  the  great  movement.  Many 
pamphlets  and  other  publications  found  their  way 
from  his  hiding  place  to  the  printer  and  to  the  people. 
Archbishop  Albert  had  ventured  to  reinstitute  the  sale 
of  indulgences,  the  proceeds  of  which  were  to  furnish 
means  for  fighting  the  Turks.  Luther  assailed  him 
fiercely.  Albert  replied  in  a  mild  letter,  written  with 
his  own  hand.  The  soft  answer  did  not  turn  away 
Luther's  wrath.  He  threatened  that  if  the  sale  of  in- 
dulgences was  not  discontinued  he  would  publish  a 
book  he  had  written  which  was  damaging  to  Albert.  He 
sent  this  in  manuscript  to  Frederick  through  Spalatin. 
They  evidently  thought  the  book  too  radical  for  publi- 
cation. Luther  grew  impatient,  and  wrote  a  letter  to 
Spalatin  that  was  more  positive  than  polite.  The  man 
had  no  cringing,  fawning  spirit  in  his  nature.  Possi- 
bly this  was  why  some  princes  and  nobles  honored  him. 
Men  may  love  flattery,  but  they  despise  the  flatterer. 

The  most  important  work  done  by  Luther  at  the 
Wartburg  (and  he  did  hardly  anything  as  important  in 


Luther  at  the  Warthiirg,  and  After.        191 

his  whole  life)  was  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the 
vernacular  German.  He  did  not  complete  this  work 
here,  but  made  a  substantial  beginning  on  the  New  Tes- 
tament. This  German  New  Testament  was  given  to 
the  German-speaking  peoples  in  the  autumn  of  the  fol- 
lowing year  (1522).  The  whole  Bible  came  later. 
With  the  Bible  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  Rome  could 
never  again  exercise  supreme  power  in  Germany.  No 
people  have  ever  become,  and  none  have  ever  remained 
solidly.  Catholic  among  whom  the  Bible  has  had  free 
and  unrestricted  circulation.  Such  a  thing  is  a  moral 
impossibility.  One  can  easily  understand  why  Rome 
has  made  so  many  bonfires  out  of  Bibles. 

Luther's  German  Bible  gave  permanency  to  the  Ger- 
man language.  The  contention  of  Max  Miiller  that  a 
language  must  grow  or  die  may  be  more  than  a  half 
truth ;  but  the  growth  of  language,  like  all  other 
growths,  must  gather  about  a  nucleus  of  life.  Luther's 
Bible  gave  that  nucleus  to  the  German  language.  In 
making  his  translation  he  was  controlled  by  one  very 
important  principle :  he  and  his  helpers  did  not  make  a 
literal  translation  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  Bible  into 
German.  Every  language  has  its  idioms.  Literal  trans- 
lations may  help  scholars  and  students,  but  they  do  not 
help  the  common  people.  More  than  one  modern  trans- 
lation of  the  Bible  has  been  marred  by  an  eflfort  to  turn 
Greek  and  Hebrew  idioms  into  English  or  German. 

The  weeks  and  months  went  by.  Luther  naturally 
grew  impatient.  The  battle  was  raging,  and  he  longed 
to  take  a  hand  in  it.  But  the  elector  restrained  him. 
He  was  free  to  go  where  he  chose  inside  the  enclosure 


192  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

about  the  castle,  but  when  he  went  outside  he  was  at- 
tended by  one  of  the  castle  guards,  who  kept  a  sort  of 
watch  over  him.  This  attendant  protected  him  from 
danger,  and  prevented  him  from  gratifying  an  impulse 
that  came  to  him  more  than  once  to  throw  himself  into 
the  struggle  that  he  knew  was  going  on.  But  he  had 
his  recreations.  He  gathered  strawberries.  He  found 
interest  in  birds  and  plants  and  trees.  In  August  he 
went  with  his  friend  on  a  two-day  hunt.  "We  caught 
a  few  hares  and  partridges,"  he  says ;  "a  pretty  occupa- 
tion for  idle  people."  A  poor  hare,  chased  by  the 
hounds,  found  temporary  shelter  in  his  sleeve.  After- 
wards the  dogs  captured  it,  and  Luther  reasoned  about 
it  after  his  usual  manner.  Poor  hares  were  like  poor 
human  beings  that  were  constantly  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  devil. 

The  great  Reformation  went  on  apace,  and  the  master 
hand  that  had  set  the  movement  going  was  needed  to 
guide  it  in  its  course.  The  doings  of  the  diet  were 
published  in  great  broadsheets,  with  wood  cuts  and 
Luther's  defense  in  full,  and  were  circulated  by  thou- 
sands. Men  read  and  admired  and  opened  their  eyes  in 
amazement.  After  all,  then,  the  pope  was  no  God,  and 
the  Romish  hierarchy  was  not  omnipotent.  "Luther 
had  smitten  the  idol,  and  men  saw  that  it  was  only  a 
painted  image."  Men  laugh  at  their  own  superstitions 
when  the  fear  is  gone.  The  danger  now  was  not  re- 
version but  revulsion.  Dissolution  and  destruction  are 
always  more  rapid  than  construction.  Institutions  a 
thousand  years  old  perished  in  a  day.  The  monasteries 
were  deserted.     Monks  and  nuns  quit  their  cloisters. 


Lilt  her  at  the  IVartbnrg,  and  After.         193 

Priests  began  to  marry.  The  spirit  of  independence  was 
everywhere.  The  tie  that  bound  men  to  Rome  was 
their  superstition.  This  was  broken  forever  in  Ger- 
many. Other  nations  were  casting  off  the  bond.  Lu- 
ther, now  a  quasi  prisoner,  had  unwittingly  set  many 
another  prisoner  free.  Men  went  farther  than  Luther 
had  gone.  In  future  his  hand  was  more  frequently  on 
the  brake  and  on  the  reverse  lever  than  on  the  throttle. 

In  many  churches  the  mass  was  discontinued  or 
turned  into  the  simple  communion  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. Men  were  learning  that  the  sacred  emblems  were 
onlv  emblems,  and  not  realities.  In  some  churches 
the  cup  was  given  to  the  laity.  The  doctrine  of  transub- 
stantiation  (a  doctrine  so  revolting  in  its  every  sug- 
gestion as  to  cause  one  to  wonder  why  any  one  had 
ever  believed  it,  and  wonder  more  why  men  still  endure 
it)  was  giving  place  to  a  more  reasonable  and  scriptur- 
al conception  of  this  sacrament.  Luther  himself  was 
handicapped  to  some  extent  by  the  old  superstition 
with  reference  to  this  ordinance  through  his  whole  life. 
His  doctrine  of  consubstantiation  was  a  sort  of  com- 
promise between  his  common  sense  and  his  lifelong  dis- 
position, som'etimes  leading  him  to  extremes,  to  take 
the  Bible  literally. 

But  all  these  changes  did  not  take  place  during  Lu- 
ther's detention  in  the  Wartburg.  The  full  current 
was  sweeping  his  followers  onward  when  at  last  it  was 
considered  safe  for  him  to  return  to  his  old  place.  He 
visited  Wittenberg  in  disguise  in  December,  but  found 
that  it  would  not  be  prudent  to  reveal  his  identity. 
What  was  passing  here  and  elsewhere  made  him  chafe 

13 


194  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

under  his  confinement.  His  old  colleague,  Karlstadt, 
and  the  Augustine  monk,  Zwilling,  were  true  to  the 
spirit  of  the  Reformation,  but  they  were  too  fanatical 
to  be  safe  leaders.  Melanchthon  was  too  conserv- 
ative to  consent  to  their  contentions,  but  not  quite 
strong  enough  to  withstand  them.  Wittenberg  was  the 
seething  center  of  the  great  ferment  that  was  going  on. 
Some  violence  had  been  shown  in  the  breaking  up  of 
the  monasteries  there.  Of  course  Luther  did  not  ap- 
prove this.  He  never  sanctioned  any  sort  of  violence  in 
defense  of  the  gospel  and  the  Church.  Karlstadt  insist- 
ed that  it  was  not  only  the  privilege  of  the  clergy  to  mar- 
ry, but  it  was  their  imperative  duty  to  do  so.  The  laity 
were  not  only  entitled  to  receive  the  communion  in  both 
kinds,  but  it  was  a  sin  not  to  give  it  to  them  thus.  The 
Saviour  administered  the  sacrament  to  only  twelve; 
only  twelve  should  be  served  with  it  at  one  time. .  These 
and  other  notions  were  among  the  doctrines  held  forth 
by  these  zealous  adherents  of  the  Lutheran  movement. 
About  some  of  these  teachings  Luther  held  very  de- 
cided convictions;  about  some  of  them  he  was  not  as 
yet  so  clear  in  his  faith.  With  all  his  apparent  pre- 
cipitancy, he  was  never  a  rash  man.  He  usually 
reached  his  conclusions  after  full  investigation.  He 
was  not  given  to  hasty  deductions  from  half  truths. 
The  great  truths  of  the  Reformation  did  not  come  to 
him  like  flashlights  in  midnight  darkness,  but  dawned 
upon  him  as  the  day  comes. 

Matters  grew  more  serious  at  Wittenberg.  Karl- 
stadt and  his  associates  were  making  trouble.  The 
spirit  of  fanaticism  was  abroad.     It  is  always  in  evi- 


Luther  at  the  Wartbiirg,  and  After.         195 

dence  in  times  of  political  and  religious  excitement. 
About  Christmas  time  three  men  from  Zwickau,  the 
headquarters  of  Thomas  Miinzer  (whom  we  shall  meet 
again  in  this  history),  came  to  the  city.  These  indi- 
viduals claimed  personal  inspiration.  They  had  a 
later  message  from  the  Lord  than  that  given  through 
the  apostles.  They  also  claimed  the  power  to  work 
miracles,  though  history  does  not  credit  them  with 
any  special  healings  or  cures  of  the  sick.  Of  course 
some  were  deceived.  The  passing  of  the  old  faith, 
in  the  case  of  many,  made  them  ready  for  anything 
that  was  new.  The  pendulum  of  credulity  finds  an  easy 
swing  from  superstition  to  fanaticism.  All  these 
things  disturbed  Luther  because  he  felt  that  they  were 
making  the  work  of  the  Reformation  fruitless,  or, 
worse  still,  turning  the  wheat  into  tares.  He  deter- 
mined at  all  hazards  to  return  to  Wittenberg.  The 
elector  protested,  but  Luther  persisted.  He  told  his 
good  friend  through  Spalatin  that  he  would  assume 
all  the  responsibility  for  going  himself.  He  told  Fred- 
erick, too,  that  his  faith  was  in  God  and  exhorted  that 
prince  to  rely  upon  the  same  protection. 

He  left  the  Wartburg  on  the  first  of  March,  1522. 
He  traveled  incognito,  of  course,  and  in  disguise. 
But  at  one  of  the  inns  where  he  stopped  to  spend  a 
night  the  landlord  recognized  him.,  but  did  not  make 
him  known  except  in  a  confidential  way  to  a  few  in- 
dividuals. Among  these  were  two  Swiss  students  en 
route  to  Wittenberg.  One  of  these  was  a  young  man 
named  Kessler.  Luther  fascinated  these  youths  with 
his  easy  manners  and  gracious  ways.    Kessler  thus  de- 


196  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

scribes  him:  "When  I  saw  Martin,  in  1522,  he  was 
somewhat  stout  but  upright,  bending  backward  rather 
than  stooping,  with  a  face  upturned  to  heaven.  His 
deep,  dark  eyes,  .  .  .  twinkled  and  sparkled  like 
stars,  so  that  one  could  hardly  look  steadily  at  them.'' 
It  will  be  remembered  that  all  of  Luther's  portraits 
give  him  this  position,  with  his  head  thrown  back. 

Luther  made  his  journey  to  Wittenberg  in  safety, 
reaching  there  after  several  days'  travel.  His  friends 
greeted  him  with  the  warmest  affection.  All  who  real- 
ly loved  the  cause  for  which  he  had  stood  so  coura- 
geously realized  that  whatever  might  be  the  personal 
risk  to  himself  involved  in  a  residence  at  Wittenberg, 
his  coming  was  critically  opportune.  In  this  connec- 
tion it  may  be  stated  once  for  all  that  while  the  ecclesi- 
astical and  civil  bans  were  over  him  for  many  years, 
he  was  never  molested.  His  history  was  a  paradox. 
A  political  and  spiritual  outlaw,  he  yet  went  on  with 
his  work  for  the  State  and  the  Church.  Moody  at 
times,  as  was  only  natural,  considering  the  fact  that 
for  a  good  part  of  his  life  he  never  knew  what  abso- 
lute personal  safety  meant,  he  never  became  the  un- 
fortunate victim  of  chronic  bitterness  and  cynicism. 
The  spirit  of  the  man  through  all  these  trying  years 
was  a  marvelous  triumph  of  strong  will,  strong  faith, 
and  the  grace  of  God. 

Luther  took  quick  and  vigorous  hold  of  the  situation 
at  Wittenberg.  Now  the  moderation  of  the  man  began 
to  manifest  itself.  He  warned  his  people  against  the 
lack  of  charity  which  caused  contentions  about  indiffer- 
ent things.     He  was  tender  toward  the  weak,  whose 


Luther  at  the  Wartbiirg,  and  After.  197 

faith  yet  needed  the  support  of  much  that  was  in  the 
old  order  of  things.  It  seemed  that  he  would  almost 
restore  the  full  forms  and  ceremonials  so  familiar  to 
the  people  in  the  days  of  Rome's  undisputed  sway.  He 
himself  went  back  to  his  home  in  the  monastery,  and 
took  up  much  of  his  old  life  there.  He  even  put  on  his 
monk's  garb  once  more.  This  he  wore  until  it  was 
worn  out,  and  then  put  on  a  s«it  made  from  a  piece  of 
cloth  given  him  by  the  elector.  He  soon  disposed  of 
the  prophets  from  Zwickau,  counteracted  the  influence 
of  Karlstadt  and  his  associates,  and  brought  peace  and 
order  out  of  strife  and  confusion. 

And  he  was  a  busy  man.  He  threw  himself  into  his 
work  with  all  the  tremendous  energy  of  his  now  ma- 
tured manhood.  All  this  time,  and  for  years  after- 
ward, he  had  no  thought  or  purpose  of  forming  a  new 
ecclesiastical  organization.  He  sought  to  reform  and 
not  to  recast  existing  institutions.  The  dominant 
force  in  his  own  life  was  the  Bible,  and  he  believed 
that  the  dominant  force  in  the  Reformation  should  be 
the  Bible.  With  this  read  and  understood  and  preached 
and  accepted,  all  would  come  right.  Without  this, 
nothing  could  be  made  right. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
Luther  and  the  Peasants'  War. 

LuTHER^s  activities  were  manifold.  He  resumed  his 
lectures  at  the  university.  He  appeared  in  his  same 
old  pulpit  the  next  Sunday  after  he  returned  from  the 
Wartburg.  For  the  whole  of  the  following  week  he 
preached  every  day,  earnestly  warning  the  people 
against  intolerance.  "You  can  talk  well  enough,"  he 
said;  "but  cannot  a  donkey  sing  his  little  lesson?  I 
see  no  signs  of  charity  in  you."  And  he  preached  at 
other  places.  At  Zwickau,  the  home  of  the  prophets, 
he  preached  from  the  balcony  of  the  town  hall  to 
twenty-five  thousand  people.  Everywhere  the  people 
heard  him  gladly.  At  Weimar,  at  Erfurt,  and  at  other 
places  he  proclaimed  the  newly  found  gospel.  His  in- 
fluence was  constantly  spreading.  Condemned  by 
Church  and  State,  he  yet  went  forth  a  spiritual  con- 
queror, pulling  down  the  strongholds  of  sin  with  the 
Word  of  God. 

To  Hartmnth  von  Kronberg,  a  son-in-law  of  Von 
Sickingen,  he  wrote  an  open  letter,  in  which  he  made 
known  to  the  nobleman  and  through  him  to  all  Ger- 
many the  fact  that  he  was  again  at  Wittenberg,  though 
he  admitted  that  he  did  not  know  how  long  he  would 
stay  there.  In  this  letter  he  spoke  in  detail  of  his  ex- 
perience at  Worms,  and  condemned  the  way  in  which 
the  diet  had  refused  to  allow  the  Bible  to  have  any 
weight  with  it  in  dealing  with  him.    It  was  a  sin  of  the 

(198) 


Luther  and  the  Peasants'  War.  199 

German  nation,  since  the  heads  of  the  nation  had  done 
it. 

The  great  work  of  this  year,  however,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  was  the  piibHcation  of  the  German  New 
Testament.  September  21,  1522  is  remembered  as  the 
day  on  which  this  epoch-making  book  made  its  ap- 
pearance. By  December  a  new  edition  was  called  for. 
The  people  read  it  with  devout  and  devouring  inter- 
est. Cochlasus,  the  Romish  theologian,  declared  that 
the  Lutheran  followers  were  more  diligent  in  the 
study  of  the  German  New  Testament  than  the  priests 
were  in  the  study  of  the  Latin  Vulgate.  Women  and 
shoemakers  and  people  of  all  classes,  he  said,  read  it 
so  much  that  they  were  ready  to  argue  not  only  with 
Catholic  laymen  but  even  with  priests.  The  author- 
ities took  notice  of  the  book,  and  ordered  it  confis- 
cated. Of  course  it  was  not  safe  to  allow  a  publica- 
tion so  dangerous  to  Romanism  to  have  free  and  unre- 
stricted circulation.  Catholic  scholars  criticised  the 
translation,  but  years  afterward,  when  a  rival  transla- 
tion was  published  by  authority  of  the  Romish  hier- 
archy, it  was  largely  a  transcript  of  the  Lutheran  trans- 
lation. 

-The  printing  press  was  one  of  the  chief  means  of  the 
Protestant  propaganda.  Luther  used  it  diligently  and 
effectively.  Plis  pen,  if  not  made,  according  to  Freder- 
ick's dream,  from  a  quill  plucked  from  a  Bohemian 
goose  a  hundred  years  old,  was  nevertheless  prolific  and 
perennial.  It  was  quickly  sharpened  when  there  was 
any  need  for  more  defense  of  the  principles  for  which 
he  contended  or  attacks  upon  the  errors  of  Romanism. 


2CX)  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

But  his  writing  was  not  limited  to  these  fields.  He  was 
quick  to  see  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  people,  ''I  was 
born  for  my  dear  Germans,"  he  said,  "and  will  never 
cease  to  w^ork  for  them." 

About  this  time  he  published  a  really  notable  work 
on  the  relations  between  Church  and  State,  or,  more 
correctly  speaking,  on  the  duties  of  Christians  in  their 
relations  to  the  civil  power.  This  work  set  forth  funda- 
mentally the  principles  universally  recognized  by  Prot- 
estants to-day.  And  what  is  even  more  remarkable, 
the  logic  of  its  positions  would  even  then  have  separated 
Church  and  State.  The  errors  and  ills  of  Romanism 
and  of  Protestantism  in  many  lands  and  centuries  have 
been  due  in  no  small  measure  to  the  effort  to  unify  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  power.  The  Church  has  but  con- 
fessed its  own  weakness  when  it  has  sought  to  lay 
hands  upon  the  strong  arm  of  the  State.  More,  it 
shows  an  unholy  ambition,  utterly  foreign  to  the  spirit 
of  Jesus  Christ,  who  said :  "My  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world."  There  were  errors  enough  in  the  Church  dur- 
ing the  fourth  century,  and  it  did  not  need  the  assist- 
ance of  Constantine,  whom  Romish  writers  have  in- 
vested with  more  greatness  and  sanctity  than  he  ever 
possessed.  Of  course  separation  of  Church  and  State 
could  not  come  in  Luther's  day.  Such  a  change  would 
have  been  too  radical.  It  probably  did  not  enter  his 
own  mind  as  a  possibility.  His  mission  was  to  sow  the 
seed  and  do  what  reaping  he  could  of  the  slowly  matur- 
ing harvest.  The  fuller,  richer  harvest  would  come  in 
the  after  ages.  But  the  constant  marvel  is  that  he  had 
discovered  so  manv  seeds  of  vital  truth,  and  that  he 


Luther  and  the  Peasants*  War.  201 

had  the  courage  to  sow  them,  likewise  the  wisdom  and 
the  faith. 

His  opponents  found  him  a  ready  controversialist. 
He  was  ready  at  any  time  to  take  up  the  gage  of  battle. 
Much  of  his  controversial  writings  at  this  time  were 
pertinent  to  the  issues  involved,  but  need  not  receive 
specific  mention  here.  Two  of  his  controversies,  how- 
ever, are  of  historic  interest.  One  of  these  was  with 
Henry  VHL,  of  England.  That  royal  polygamist, 
whose  uxorial  proclivities  had  not  as  yet  run  counter  to 
liis  Romish  principles,  ventured  into  the  field  of  con- 
troversy against  Luther.  His  attack  was  more  kingly 
in  name  than  in  quality.  Luther's  answer  was  sharp- 
edged.  He  in  effect  charges  Henry  with  merely 
begging  the  question.  To  bring  forward  the  decretals 
of  popes  and  the  dogmas  of  councils  as  final  on  any 
question  was  assuming  the  very  question  at  issue.  It 
yet  remained  for  Henry  to  disprove  the  old  proverb : 
''All  kings  are  fools." 

The  Catholics  complained  that  a  serious  mistake  had 
been  made  at  the  Diet  of  Worms  in  the  failure  to  have 
some  Catholic  divine  there  who  could  cope  with  Lu- 
ther in  argument.  Evidently  the  little  Wittenberg  doc- 
tor was  too  much  for  those  who  had  entered  the  lists 
against  him.  It  was  essential  that  every  capable  de- 
fender of  the  faith  should  take  up  the  battle  against 
Luther.  Erasmus,  always  wary,  a  believer  in  the  new- 
ly discovered  learning,  but  not  a  believer  in  the  new 
evangelism,  at  least  to  the  extent  of  committing  him- 
self unreservedly  to  it,  was  urged  to  take  up  matters 
witli  Luther.     Kincfs  unred  him  to  do  so.     Erasmus 


202  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

was  too  shrewd  to  take  up  the  main  contention  with 
Luther,  so  he  attacked  him  on  the  less  vital  and  more 
academic  question  of  the  freedom  of  the  will.  The 
argument  of  Erasmus,  so  far  as  there  was  any  argu- 
ment, was  in  favor  of  what  has  been  known  in  after 
times  as  Arminianism^  Luther's  views,  as  we  have 
seen,  were  colored  with  Augustinianism.  The  con- 
troversy was  characterized  by  the  bitterness  of  the 
times,  and  led  to  a  rupture  between  the  two  men  which 
was  never  fully  healed.  In  all  that  Luther  said  on  this 
mooted  question  he  was  duly  mindful  that  it  involved 
divine  things  too  deeply  to  be  handled  lightly  and  irrev- 
erently. He  was  practical  in  all  his  thoughts.  He  be- 
lieved in  human  responsibility,  and  believed  in  it  so 
strongly  that  he  did  not  allow  any  merely  abstract 
question  of  theology  to  overshadow  it.  *  The  one  test 
of  faith  with  him  was  its  effect  on  life  and  conduct. 
Hence  he  had  little  time  and  less  taste  for  discussing 
questions  which  he  conceived  had  no  direct  bearing 
on  these  vital  fruits  of  faith. 

The  work  of  the  Reformation  went  forward  with 
gathering  strength.  In  1523  Prussia  broke  finally  with 
the  pope,  and  thus  became  the  first  Protestant  State. 
Denmark  followed  a  little  later,  and  in  the  course  of  a 
few  years  Sweden  and  Norway  followed.  A  light  more 
brilliant  and  enduring  than  the  aurora  borealis  was 
breaking  over  these  northern  lands.  In  the  Low  Coun- 
tries, where  Charles  had  hereditary  possessions,  the 
gospel  was  preached  and  believed,  and  here  the  first 
martyr's  blood  of  the  Christian  era  was  shed.  The 
great  movement  must  needs  have  its  baptism  of  fire 


Luther  and  the  Feasants'  War.  203 

and  blood.  The  names  of  the  proto-martyrs  of  the 
great  Reformation  were  Henry  Voes  and  John  Esch. 
Tliese  young  Augustine  monks  had  gone  into  Holland 
to  preach  the  gospel  as  Luther  and  his  followers  under- 
stood it.  They  were  apprehended  by  the  authorities 
and  publicly  burned  at  the  stake.  Luther  was  deeply 
stirred  by  the  fate  of  these  faithful  witnesses  to  the 
truth.  He  wondered  why  the  Master  had  not  put  the 
honor  of  martyrdom  upon  himself,  and  not  upon  these 
young  men.  Under  the  solemn  yet  joyous  inspiration 
of  this  blood  christening  of  the  movement  for  which 
he  was  himself  ready  at  any  time  to  lay  down  his  life, 
he  wrote  his  first  verses,  which  were  an  eleg)^  to  the 
memory  of  the  young  heroes  of  the  faith,  and  also  :i 
martial  call  to  the  Church  to  meet  courageously  the  bat- 
tle that  was  on.    These  historic  lines  begin : 

A  new  song  will  we  raise  to  him 

Who  riileth,  God  our  Lord ; 
And  we  will  sing  what  God  hath  done 

In  honor  of  his  word. 

And  then,  after  referring  to  the  fate  of  the  martyrs,  he 
concludes  with  this  trumpet  blast : 

So  let  us  thank  our  God  to  see 

His  Word  returned  at  last. 
The  summer  now  is  at  the  door, 

The  winter  is  fore-past. 
The  tender  flowerlets  bloom  anew. 

And  he  who  hath  begun 
Will  give  his  work  a  happy  end. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Luther  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  providing  hymns   for  the  people.     The  early 


^04  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

Christians  sang,  as  we  know  from  the  testimony  of  the 
apostles  themselves  and  from  the  report  made  to  the 
Roman  emperor  by  Pliny  the  Younger.  But  through  the 
Middle  Ages  Rome  had  discouraged  congregational 
singing.  She  relegated  this  important  part  of  public 
worship  to  choir  boys  and  others  specially  designated 
for  the  purpose,  and  the  singing  was  done  in  Latin,  a 
language  utterly  foreign  to  the  common  people.  For  a 
thousand  years  the  voice  of  song  had  been  silent  in  the 
Church,  with  only  an  occasional  outburst  of  sacred 
melody.  It  is  not  surprising  that  spiritual  life  reached 
its  slowest  pulse.  When  the  Church's  praying  is  done 
by  priests  and  preachers,  and  its  singing  is  done  by 
choirs,  however  grand  the  chant  or  anthem,  spirituality 
wanes  to  its  death. 

Now  and  then  through  these  silent  centuries  (for 
God  hath  never  left  himself  without  witnesses)  some 
prophet-poet  would  burst  away  from  the  superstitious 
songs  to  Mary  and  the  saints  and  sing  a  song  of  faith 
and  devotion  to  Jesus  himself,  or  give  voice  to  some 
other  devout  Christian  sentiment.  In  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury Bernard  of  Clairvaux  burst  forth  with  that  faith 
song  of  the  Church, 

Of  him  who  did  salvation  bring, 
I  could  forever  think  and  sing, 

and  a  little  later  Bernard  of  Cluny  sang  of  "Jerusalem 
the  Golden."  The  Franciscan  monk,  Thomas  of  Ce- 
lano,  sang  of  the  terrors  of  the  last  day  in  verses  which 
have  been  rendered  into  English  by  Sir  Walter  Scott, 


Luther  and  the  Peasants'  War.  205 

John  Newton,  and  Dean  Stanley,  the  first  of  these  ver- 
sions beginning, 

The  day  of  wrath,  that  dreadful  day, 
When  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away. 
What  power  shall  be  the  sinner's  stay  ? 
How  shall  he  meet  that  dreadful  day? 

These  and  a  few  others  are  like  pearls  gathered  from 
the  rubbish  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  Lutheran  age 
gave  many  more  hymns  to  the  Church  than  a  thousand 
years  of  Romanism  had  given,  and  the  age  of  Watts 
and  Wesley  a  hundredfold  more. 

Martin  Luther  was  a  spiritual  seer.  He  saw  the 
need  of  the  Church  for  sacred  song.  He  was  not  a 
poet  himself^  although*  under  the  inspiration  of  the 
mighty  impulse  that  was  stirring  his  own  soul,  as  well 
as  the  soul  of  the  age,  he  wrote  some  verses  that  will 
never  die.  But  he  soon  gathered  about  him  men  who, 
like  ancient  David  and  Asaph,  could  praise  the  Lord  in 
song.  The  German  language  is  rich  in  hymnology — 
treasures  gathered  during  the  days  of  Luther,  also 
from  succeeding  generations,  and  especially  from  the 
Moravians. 

Luther  published  his  first  German  hymn  book  in 
1524.  It  was  only  a  small  volume,  containing  less  than 
two  dozen  hymns.  But  others  and  larger  ones  came 
later.  Luther  never  wrote  more  than  thirty  or  forty 
hymns,  and  some  of  them  were  not  specially  notable 
for  poetic  or  hymnic  merit.  But  at  least  two  of  these 
have  found  their  way  into  English  and  other  tongues, 
and  one  of  them  has  never  been  surpassed  as  an  ex- 


2o6  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

pression  of  unconquerable  faith  in  God.  This  is  his 
famous  version  of  the  forty-sixth  Psalm,  and  reference 
has  already  been  made  to  it.  This  is  the  first  verse  of 
this  famous  epic : 

A  mighty  fortress  is  our  God, 

A  bulwark  never  failing; 
Our  helper  he,  amid  the  flood    . 

Of  mortal  ills  prevailing. 
For  still  our  ancient  foe 
Doth  seek  to  work  us  woe ; 
His  craft  and  power  are  great. 
And  armed  with  cruel  hate, 
On  earth  is  not  his  equal. 

This  hymn  was  written  in  1526.  Every  line  of  it  throbs 
with  the  heartbeats  of  the  man  who  was  standing  for 
God  and  the  truth.  Sometimes,  when  tempted  to  be 
discouraged,  he  would  say  to  Melanchthon:  "Philip, 
let  us  sing  the  forty-sixth  Psalm"  (meaning  this  hymn). 
The  other  of  the  two  hym'ns  to  which  reference  has 
been  made  is  a  Christmas  carol,  and  is  itself  a  transla- 
tion from  the  Latin.  It  is  very  tender.  This  is  the  first 
verse  in  English : 

To  us  this  day  a  Child  is  given^ 
To  crown  us  with  the  joy  of  heaven; 
Good  news  from  heaven  the  angels  bring, 
Glad  tidings  to  the  earth  they  sing. 

Luther  went  on  with  his  work,  but  his  enemies  did 
not  relax  their  efforts  against  him.  Hadrian  followed 
Leo  upon  the  papal  throne.  He  was  too  pious  to  be  a 
popular  pope  in  Rome,  too  reactionary  in  his  policies 
to  be  an  acceptable  pope  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and 


Luther  and  the  Peasants'  War.  207 

too  stupid  to  be  a  good  pope  at  any  time.  He  broke 
out  in  coarse  personal  attacks  against  Luther.  He 
called  the  reformer  a  drunkard  and  other  like  names. 
His  German  enemies  said  this  about  Luther,  and  of 
course  the  infallible  holy  father  believed  what  they 
said.  Luther  dismissed  the  matter  with  a  simple  re- 
mark that  Hadrian  was  an  ass.  The  pope  demanded 
the  execution  of  the  decree  of  the  Diet  of  Worms. 
Charles,  through  his  representative,  made  the  same 
demand  on  the  diet  which  met  in  Nuremburg  in  1524. 
That  body,  anticipating  by  some  centuries  the  doings 
of  the  "Circumlocution  Office,"  pledged  itself  to  carry 
out  the  decree  in  words  that  were  simply  a  subterfuge. 
No  German  diet  would  even  condemn  Martin  Luther 
again.  And  Charles  was  too  busy  with  his  wars  with 
France  and  other  pressing  interests  of  his  great  do- 
minion to  give  heed  or  time  to  the  croakings  of  the  pa- 
pacy. He  had  enough  war  on  his  hands,  without  em- 
broiling himself  with  his  German  subjects.  He  was 
wise  enough  to  see  that  the  movement  involved  many 
others  besides  Luther. 

Luther  said  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  that  as  hard  as  his 
enemies  had  hit  him,  they  had  not  hit  him  so  hard  as  his 
own  people.  And  he  was  to  realize  this  now  as  never 
before.  In  1524,  and  especially  in  the  early  part  of 
1525,  some  of  the  bloodiest  chapters  in  all  human  his- 
tory were  written.  What  came  to  pass  was  only  the 
natural  result  of  the  forces  at  work.  Winter  seldom 
passes  into  spring  and  summer  without  storms.  The 
lightning  flash  may  restore  the  electric  equilibrium  and 
purify  the  air,  but  it  may  likewise  rend  the  ancient  oak 


2o8  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

or  strike  down  a  human  being  as  it  passes  from  the 
cloud  to  the  earth.  Luther  was  a  man  of  peace,  and 
counseled  moderation  and  even  championed  the  doc- 
trine of  nonresistance.  But  the  doctrines  he  taught  and 
the  truths  for  which  he  stood  in  the  restless  age  in  which 
he  lived,  could  but  produce  social  and  civil  convulsions. 

Men  practiced  all  sorts  of  fanatical  vagaries.  Karl- 
stadt  discarded  all  clerical  garb,  dressed  like  a  peasant, 
called  himself  "Brother  Andrew,"  and  hauled  manure 
barefooted.  His  views  were  what  we  should  call  so- 
cialistic. He  found  much  authority  for  his  contentions 
in  the  Old  Testament.  He  w^ould  model  the  State 
after  the  manner  of  the  Jewish  theocracy.  Luther  was 
asked  to  give  his  views  touching  this  matter.  He  wrote 
on  the  subject,  taking  the  position  that  God  in  estab- 
lishing the  Jewish  state  meant  simply  to  educate  men, 
and  not  to  establish  a  form  of  government  after  which 
all  governments  should  be  fashioned  absolutely.  The 
Jewish  national  economy  was  no  more  binding  that 
the  Jewish  law  with  reference  to  what  should  and 
should  not  be  eaten.  With  his  characteristic  clearness 
of  perception  he  set  forth  the  difference  between  the 
literal  and  the  spiritual  in  law. 

But  a  more  dangerous  fanatic  than  Karlstadt  ap- 
peared. This  was  Thomas  Miinzer,  the  Anabaptist. 
Munzer  had  taken  his  master's  degree  at  Wittenberg, 
and  had  for  a  time  been  an  acceptable  Lutheran  preach- 
er. Later  he  went  into  mysticism  of  the  most  pro- 
nounced and  dangerous  sort.  He  claimed  to  have  di- 
rect revelations  from  the  Lord.  Believing  his  vagaries 
himself,  no  doubt,  he  persuaded  others  to  accept  them. 


Luther  and  tJic  Peasants'  War.  209 

He  felt  called  upon  and  mightily  moved  to  establish 
a  "kingdom  of  the  saints."  This  kingdom  was  not  to 
be  spiritual,  but  temporal.  All  things  were  to  be  in 
common.  The  enemies  of  the  Lord  (by  which  he  meant 
all  those  who  opposed  his  schemes)  were  to  be  dealt 
with  as  the  Israelites  had  dealt  with  the  Canaanites. 
Such  incendiarism  in  the  name  of  religion  could  but 
produce  insurrection.  This  was  as  inevitable  as  is  an 
explosion  when  fire  touches  powder. 

Naturally  enough  the  poorer  classes  were  readiest 
to  accept  these  doctrines.  It  was  an  age  of  oppression. 
The  old  feudal  system  was  tottering  to  its  fall,  but  it 
was  never  worse  in  all  its  history  than  now.  The  peas- 
ant class  were  nothing  better  than  serfs.  Dignitaries  of 
Church  and  State  lived  in  luxury,  and  wrung  taxes  from 
the  poor  to  support  their  indolence  and  self-indulgence. 
The  exactions  and  oppressions  grew  worse  as  time  went 
on.  Men  in  semi-beggary,  with  families  suffering  for 
the  necessities  of  life,  groaned  in  spirit  and  longed  for 
relief.  It  was  the  age  when  man's  cruelty  to  man  as- 
suredly made  countless  thousands  mourn.  The  Church 
not  only  showed  no  sympathy ;  it  was  as  oppressive  as 
the  nobles,  if  not  more  so.  And  the  reformers  taught 
the  people  that  Rome  was  a  tyrant,  exercising  powers 
that  God  had  never  given  to  the  Church.  Men  woke  up 
to  thoughts  and  aspirations  they  had  never  known  be- 
fore. They  thought  of  freedom,  and  thus  thinking, 
became  anarchists.    The  Peasants'  War  broke  out. 

For  some  time  before  this  there  had  been  much  rest- 
lessness as  well  as  numerous  outbreaks.  The  ''League 
of  the  Shoe"  had  been  formed.    The  disturbances  had 

14 


2IO  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

been  frequent  in  southern  Germany.  Now  the  agi- 
tation spread  to  all  parts  of  the  empire.  Luther  saw 
the  danger,  and  uttered  a  warning  against  it.  He  had 
spoken  sharply  to  Karlstadt  and  his  associates  con- 
cerning the  reckless  way  in  which  they  had  torn  down 
images  in  the  churches  and  inaugurated  other  innova- 
tions. He  did  not  believe  in  images,  but  he  did  believe 
in  law  and  order,  and  contended  that  all  things  should 
be  done  (all  reforms  carried  out)  in  a  lawful  way.  He 
sought  to  act  as  mediator.  At  Easter  in  1525  he  wrote 
what  he  hoped  would  be  a  conciliatory  letter  to  the  peo- 
ple. He  urged  the  peasants,  ''his  brethren,"  to  refrain 
from  violence.  But  his  words  were  not  sufficient  to  al- 
lay the  storm.  Fire  and  bloodshed  had  already  begun. 
The  peasant  bands  carried  the  sword  and  firebrand 
wherever  they  went.  Convents  and  castles  were  given 
to  pillage  and  the  flames.  The  advocates  of  freedom 
became  a  lawless  mob.  Miinzer  himself  joined  the 
rioters  and  became  their  leader.  Luther  counseled  de- 
cisive measures  against  these  "human  devils."  The 
Saxon  princes,  Philip  of  Hesse,  the  Duke  of  Bruns- 
wick, and  some  others  united  forces  against  the  in- 
surgents. On  the  fifteenth  of  May  a  decisive  battle 
was  fought  at  Frankenhausen  between  the  govern- 
ment forces  and  the  rabble  army  under  Miinzer.  The 
peasants  were  completely  routed  and  Miinzer  was 
made  prisoner.  Later  he  was  ingloriously  beheaded, 
dying  in  abject  cowardice. 

Engagements  at  other  points  resulted  in  sim- 
ilar defeats  for  the  poor  peasants.  It  is  said  that,  first 
and  last,  150,000  of  them  perished  ;  and  after  this  fear- 


LutJicr  and  the  Feasants^  War.  211 

fill  sacrifice  of  life,  leaving  whole  communities  deso- 
lated in  some  cases,  the  condition  of  the  peasants  was 
not  made  better,  but  worse.  This  was  a  struggle  for 
freedom,  one  of  the  first  of  the  many  that  have  come 
since  then,  and  ought  to  have  had  a  different  result. 
Before  the  final  defeat  of  the  uprising  the  leaders  put 
forth  demands  which  were  reasonable  enough.  They 
asked  the  right  to  choose  their  own  pastors  in  villages, 
to  be  allowed  access  to  the  forests  and  streams  for  hunt- 
ing and  fishing,  that  a  portion  of  the  tithes  be  applied 
to  the  relief  of  the  poor,  and  that  serfdom  be  abolished. 
Their  demands  were  not  outside  reasonable  human 
rights,  but  the  methods  they  employed  to  secure  these 
demands  were  so  revolutionary  that  they  lost  the  sym- 
pathy of  all  conservative  people. 

Luther  has  been  sharply  criticised  in  connection  with 
this  unfortunate  outburst.  He  has  been  charged  with 
responsibility  for  it.  Unquestionably  the  principles  of 
the  great  Reformation  were  largely  effective  in  bringing 
about  this  attempted  revolution.  Many  things  that  Lu- 
ther had  said  put  specious  pleas  in  the  mouths  of  the 
revolutionists  in  defense  of  their  course.  He  had  not 
spared  rulers  in  his  strictures  upon  the  times  and  the 
evils  of  the  times,  and  he  had  condemned  the  unjust 
oppressions  of  the  people  in  his  own  uncompromising 
way.  But  it  is  one  thing  to  condemn  unjust  laws  and 
unjust  rulers,  and  quite  a  different  thing  to  condemn  all 
government.  Paul  did  not  approve  the  crimes  of  the 
human  monster,  the  Emperor  Nero ;  and  yet  he  wrote 
to  the  Romans  that  *'the  powers  that  be  are  of  God." 
Luther  was  never  a  rebel  against  rightful  authority. 


212  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

He  obeyed  the  law  himself,  and  taught  others  to  obey  it. 
His  critics  say  that  he  really  began  the  movement,  but 
that  when  it  was  under  full  headway  he  deserted  it, 
and,  like  Pilate,  sought  to  wash  his  hands  of  all  re- 
sponsibility. But  he  never  counseled  or  countenanced 
violence,  even  in  defense  of  right.  When  he  was  haled 
before  the  Diet  of  Worms,  if  he  had  only  spoken  the 
word,  many  brave  men  would  have  sprung  to  his  de- 
fense. Instead  of  this,  he  went  like  a  sheep  to  the 
slaughter.  When  the  struggle  burst  upon  Germany,  he 
could  not  consistently  take  sides  with  the  peasants. 
Compromise  was  impossible,  and  so  there  was  nothing 
for  him  but  to  take  his  stand  with  the  authorities. 

After  the  struggle  was  over,  Luther  did  what  he 
could  to  secure  clemency  for  the  poor  peasants.  It  was 
fortunate  for  him  and  them  that  the  army  that  had  won 
the  victory  was  Protestant  and  not  Romanist.  Had  it 
been  the  latter,  his  own  fate  would  have  been  what 
Rome  had  long  wished  it  to  be,  and  his  good  offices 
would  have  availed  nothing  in  behalf  of  the  defeated 
rebels. 

While  the  Peasants'  War  was  just  beginning  Freder- 
ick the  Wise  passed  away.  When  he  realized  that  his 
end  was  near  he  sent  for  Luther.  The  latter  hastened 
to  his  bedside,  but  before  he  could  reach  his  dying 
friend  Frederick  had  passed  away  in  peace.  It  has 
been  stated  already  that  Frederick  never  openly  left 
the'  Romish  Church,  but  when  he  was  dying  he  ac- 
cepted the  communion  in  both  kinds  and  refused  to 
receive  extreme  unction.  It  is  evident  from  this  that 
at  heart  he  accepted  the  Lutheran  doctrines. 


Luther  and  the  Peasants'  War,  213 

He  was  well  called  "the  Wise."  He  was  one  of  the 
first  princes  in  all  Europe,  if  not  the  very  first,  that 
stood  for  religious  toleration.  Had  his  attitude  to- 
ward Luther  been  in  full  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Catholic  Church  the  great  Reformation  would  have 
come,  but  its  coming  would  have  cost  immeasurably 
more  bloodshed.  Well  may  Protestants  honor  his  mem- 
ory. All  Christians  may  find  in  his  life  and  reign  a  part 
of  that  wondrous  providence  that  attended  every  stage 
of  the  great  moral  and  religious  forward  movement  of 
the  Church  in  the  sixteenth  century  and  every  step  of 
the  man  who  was  commissioned  of  heaven  to  lead  this 
movement. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
LuTHER^s  Marriage. 

It  is  pleasant  to  turn  from  the  Peasants'  War,  with 
its  record  of  blood  and  slaughter,  to  one  of  the  most 
important  and  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  happiest 
events  in  the  whole  life  of  Martin  Luther. 

On  June  13,  1525,  Tuesday  evening,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Katharina  von  Bora.  The  German  summer 
was  in  its  fullness  of  beauty.  The  harvest  time  had 
not  yet  come,  but  the  flowers  were  blooming,  roses 
were  in  the  gardens,  the  nightingale  was  singing,  the 
lark  was  abroad  by  early  dawn,  and  the  stork,  always 
welcome  to  the  dwellers  of  the  Far  North,  had  built 
its  nest  on  many  roofs.  The  long  June  twilight  must 
have  given  brightness  even  to  the  dull  apartments  of 
Martin  Luther  in  the  Augustine  monastery  at  Witten- 
berg, where  for  many  years  he  had  found  shelter,  and 
where  now  he  was  to  find  a  home. 

The  marriage  was  very  quiet.  It  was  solemnized  by 
Bugenhagen,  the  parish  priest.  Cranach,  the  artist, 
and  his  wife,  Justus  Jonas,  one  of  the  professors  in  the 
university,  and  for  many  years  a  most  intimate  friend 
of  the  reformer,  and  Apel,  the  professor  of  law,  who 
had  himself  married  a  nun — these  were  the  invited 
guests.  Melanchthon  was  not  in  the  company.  Lu- 
ther knew  that  the  last  named  individual  would  not 
approve  the  step  that  he  was  taking;  and  one  wants 
only  sympathetic  friends  present  when  he  marries. 

(214) 


Luthei-'s  Marriage.  215 

A  fortnight  later  a  larger  company  gathered  on  in- 
vitation of  Luther  to  celebrate  the  marriage  in  a  more 
public  way.  Among  the  guests  were  his  venerable  fa- 
ther and  mother.  Hans  Luther  had  always  wished 
Martin  to  marry,  and  it  is  easy  to  imagine  how  happy 
the  old  man  and  his  wife  were  when  they  saw  their  son 
wedded  to  a  good,  noble  woman. 

Luther's  bride  had  had  a  history  of  her  own.  She 
'belonged  to  a  noble  German  family.  Like  many  other 
aristocratic  people,  however,  her  kindred  seem  to  have 
had  more  good  blood  than  money ;  and  like  other  fam- 
ilies similarly  situated,  they  had  sought  shelter  and  re- 
spectability for  their  daughter  Katharina  in  a  nunnery. 
She  was  placed  in  one  of  these  establishments  when  only 
nine  years  old.  At  sixteen  she  took  the  vows  of  a  nun. 
She  declared  afterwards  that  she  did  not  know  the 
meaning  of  these  vows  when  she  assumed  them.  How 
could  she?  The  light  of  the  Reformation  penetrated 
into  many  a  dark  corner  where  the  light  had  never 
shone  before,  and  to  many  this  light  brought  a  vision 
of  life  and  liberty  such  as  they  had  never  seen  before. 
This  light  entered  the  convent  of  Nimptschen,  situated 
near  the  Saxon  town  of  Grimma,  and  with  its  coming 
restlessness  entered  the  hearts  of  the  inmates.  No  nor- 
mal woman  whose  history  or  training  has  not  warped 
her  ideas  of  life  would  ever  seek  a  nunnery.  When 
Katharina  von  Bora  and  her  companions  understood 
the  better  way  their  cloisters  became  their  prison. 
They  determined  to  free  themselves  from  a  life  which 
had  no  joys  in  it,  and  now,  since  they  knew  more  fully 
what  religion  really  was,  did  not  even  possess  the  merit 


2i6  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

of  duty.  But  whither  should  they  go  ?  They  appealed 
to  their  relatives.  These  refused  to  give  them  a  home 
or  any  assistance.  But  they  were  not  discouraged. 
Aided  by  a  town  official,  nine  of  the  inmates  made 
their  escape.  It  was  quite  natural  that  they  should 
make  their  way  to  Wittenberg  and  throw  themselves 
upon  the  generosity  of  Martin  Luther  and  his  friends. 
This  was  two  years  before  Luther  married  Katharina, 
one  of  these  escaped  nuns.  Luther  took  the  fugitives 
under  his  protection,  and  solicited  money  to  provide 
for  their  wants  until  other  arrangements  could  be 
made  for  them.  Katharina  von  Bora  found  a  home  in 
the  house  of  the  burgomaster  of  Wittenberg.  Luther 
took  a  deep  interest  in  these  wards  of  his.  Some  of 
them  married,  and  all  were  cared  for  in  a  way  that 
saved  them  from  want. 

Luther  confessed  afterwards  that  he  did  not  like 
Katharina  at  first.  He  thought  she  was  haughty.  Pos- 
sibly the  fact  that  she  belonged  to  a  family  that  was 
socially  above  his  own  caused  him  to  think  this.  Pos- 
sibly, too,  this  very  opinion  of  Katharina  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  the  beginnings  of  Luther's  love  for 
her.  Men  like  to  win  the  love  of  women ;  and  a  man 
of  Luther's  temperament  would  not  likely  love  a  wom- 
an whose  nature  did  not  present  something  like  oppo- 
sition to  his  wishes.  That  he  came  to  love  her  de- 
votedly there  can  be  no  doubt.  He  was  forty-one  when 
he  married  her,  and  she  was  twenty-six.  This  differ- 
ence in  age  seemed  only  to  enhance  his  affection  for 
his  Katie,  as  he  called  her.  The  maturity  of  his  man- 
hood and  all  the  loneliness  and  unconscious  self-de- 


Lilt  he/ s  Marriage.  21 


nial  of  his  years  as  a  monastic  entered  into  his  love  for 
liis  wife.  Every  great  experience  of  Hfe  brings  to 
men's  knowledge  a  part  of  themselves  of  which  they 
had  no  consciousness  before,  or  at  most  only  half 
consciousness ;  and  Martin  Luther,  like  many  another 
good  man,  found  a  joy  in  marriage  of  which  he  never 
dreamed.  No  wonder  that  after  a  year  with  his  Kath- 
arina  he  declared  that  he  would  rather  have  her  and 
poverty  than  all  the  world  without  her. 

The  picture  of  Katharina  made  by  Cranach,  one  of 
the  guests  at  the  marriage,  does  not  show  a  face  of 
great  beauty.  Character  faces  are  rarely  beautiful,  and 
hers  was  a  character  face.  A  brow  that  was  not  too 
prominent,  large  eyes,  a  nose  that  was  a  bit  stubby, 
lips  that  could  close  firmly,  a  chin  that  v/as  a  little 
pointed,  and  a  general  contour  of  features  that  indi- 
cated individuality  and  decision — these  are  the  char- 
acteristics of  a  face  that  looks  at  you  through  the  por- 
trait drawn  by  this  personal  friend  of  the  family.  The 
more  you  study  the  face  the  more  impressed  you  are 
with  it,  and  you  would  say  that  Katharina  would  im- 
prove with  acquaintance.  And  this  was  no  doubt  so. 
It  is  true  with  most  good  people.  She  was  a  true, 
warm-hearted,  well-proportioned  German  woman,  well 
calculated  and  quite  willing  to  make  for  herself  and 
her  husband  a  good  home,  a  place  and  a  state  neither  of 
them  had  really  had  since  childhood. 

As  already  stated,  tlie  real  wedding  feast  came  two 
weeks  later.  Luther  in  inviting  his  friends  told  them 
that  he  wanted  them  to  come  and  **ratify  the  marriage" 
and  "pronounce  the  benediction."    There  were  rings 


2i8  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

and  other  tokens,  some  of  which  are  still  preserved  with 
loyal  reverence  in  various  institutions.  The  university 
presented  the  bridal  couple  with  a  silver  goblet  on 
which  were  engraved  the  words :  "The  honorable  Uni- 
versity of  the  electoral  town  of  Wittenberg  presents 
this  wedding  gift  to  Doctor  Martin  Luther  and  Kethe 
von  Bora."  The  wedding  ring  bears  the  image  of  the 
Saviour  and  a  miniature  picture  of  the  cross. 

The  newly  married  couple,  as  related  before,  went  to 
housekeeping  in  the  old  Augustine  monastery.  The 
monks  of  this  particular  institution  had  years  before 
taken  their  departure.  Some  of  them  entered  the  min- 
istry, others  took  up  secular  pursuits,  and  Luther  and 
a  single  companion  were  left  as  the  sole  occupants  of 
the  monastery.  Luther  had  reported  the  matter  to 
Frederick,  and  through  Spalatin  had  turned  over  the 
building  to  the  elector.  The  latter  had  donated  it  to 
the  university,  and  so  Luther  continued  to  live  there 
long  after  his  companions  had  departed.  His  only  com- 
panion for  many  months,  except  possibly  a  chance  vis- 
itor, was  the  young  man  already  mentioned.  He 
had  entered  the  monastic  life  to  find  peace  with  God, 
and  now  the  gospel  he  had  preached  to  others  had 
made  him  more  of  a  hermit  than  ever  before  in  all 
his  life.  The  energetic  Katharina  found  plenty  of 
work  to  do  during  the  honeymoon  in  setting  things  to 
rights  in  this  old  establishment  long  occupied  by  men 
only. 

Luther's  marriage  created  a  great  stir.  Friends  and 
foes  united  in  criticising  the  step.  Melanchthon,  while 
admitting  that  marriage  was  a  holy  estate   (he  could 


Luther's  Marriage.  219 

hardly  do  otherwise,  since  he  was  himself  a  married 
man),  thought  Luther  had  lowered  himself,  and  that, 
too,  at  a  crisis  in  the  great  Reformation  when  he  was 
needed  most.  And  of  course  gossips  and  slanderers 
found  sweet  morsels  in  the  affair.  A  man  who  had  un- 
sparingly criticised  and  condemned  unchastity  in  the 
priests,  and  who  had  himself  up  to  this  time  escaped 
even  the  breath  of  suspicion,  was  the  center  now  of 
those  moral  vultures  who  cannot  even  wait  for  the 
death  and  decay  of  their  victim,  but  must  needs  use 
their  filthy  beaks  on  living  beings.  And  even  to  this 
day  Catholic  priests  charge  Martin  Luther  with  the  se- 
duction of  Katharina  von  Bora,  the  nun.  They  have 
been  known  to  assert  that  this  was,  forsooth,  the  reason 
why  Martin  Luther  left  the  Catholic  Church !  If  this 
had  been  true,  and  others  who  were  guilty  of  the  same 
sin  had  gone  with  him,  tlie  number  of  Protestants 
might  have  been  larger  than  it  was.  And  if  the  dic- 
tum of  Jesus  had  been  observed,  possibly  some  of  the 
critics  of  Luther  would  have  thrown  no  stones.  Moral 
impurity  was  certainly  no  reason  for  leaving  the  Rom- 
ish Church  in  the  days  of  Martin  Luther ;  and  unless  the 
testimony  of  all  witnesses  is  utterly  discredited  and 
discarded,  there  is  still  little  reason  for  such  a  thing 
in  exclusively  Catholic  countries.  In  the  time  of  Mar- 
tin Luther  the  Romish  Church,  from  the  pope  down, 
was  shot  through  and  through  with  this  moral  poison. 
The  memory  of  the  Borgias — the  one  a  pope,  also  the 
father  of  a  large  family,  the  other,  once  a  cardinal  but 
released  by  his  father  the  pope  from  his  celibate  vows 
and  afterwards  entering  the  married  state — was  still 


220  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

fresh  in  the  minds  of  men ;  for  they  had  not  been  dead 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  Concubinage  was 
common,  almost  universal,  among  the  priests.  No 
priest  could  openly  take  a  wife,  but  many  of  them 
played  hide  and  seek  with  what  conscience  they  had  by 
taking  mistresses.  Regulations  touching  the  concubin- 
age of  the  priests  had  been  adopted  in  some  parts  of  Eu- 
rope. The  publication  touching  Albert  which  Luther 
had  threatened  to  make,  to  which  reference  has  already 
been  made,  charged  this  papal  general  agent  for  the 
indulgences  in  Germany  with  gross  immorality.  This 
unpleasant  subject  may  be  dismissed  with  the  simple 
statement,  which  is  borne  out  by  reason  and  facts,  that 
the  celibate  priesthood  has  been  the  curse  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church.  The  Romish  doctrine  of  marriage  is  in- 
consistent. If,  as  Catholics  claim,  marriage  is  a  sacra- 
ment, why  deny  it  to  the  priests  ? 

No  marriage  in  all  history  has  been  more  discussed 
than  Martin  Luther's.  Grave  historians  and  theologians 
have  discussed  it.  Biographers,  partial  and  prejudiced, 
have  given  it  careful  consideration.  Men  have  specu- 
lated about  it.  Various  explanations  have  been  brought 
forward  to  account  for  it.  Michelet,  the  French  histo- 
rian, advances  the  theory  that  Luther's  mind  had  been 
weakened  by  his  constant  anxiety  through  so  many 
years,  and  by  the  repeated  shocks  he  had  suffered, 
and  that  in  consequence  of  this  semidementia  he 
was  not  responsible  for  the  folly  of  marriage !  This 
explanation  has  at  least  the  merit  of  originality.  It 
is  about  as  meritorious  as  this  same  author's  effort  to 
account  for  Luther's  spiritual  struggles.     These  con- 


Luther's  Marriage.  221 

flicts,  he  thinks,  were  due  to  the  dark  age  in  which  Lu- 
ther hved,  and  are  unknown  to  people  of  a  later  genera- 
tion. 

Luther's  marriage  really  needed  no  defense  or  ex- 
planation. In  ordinary  discussions  the  burden  of  proof 
is  on  the  affirmative.  In  marriage,  as  well  as  in  other 
vital  questions,  the  proof  must  come  from  the  negative. 
The  reasons  for  marriage  exist  in  human  nature  and 
human  society.  It  is  the  privilege,  if  not  the  duty,  of 
every  healthy  human  being  capable  of  meeting  the  man- 
ifold obligations  of  matrimony  to  marry.  There  are 
reasons  why  some  persons  should  not  enter  this  state, 
but  these  should  be  more  weighty  than  whim  or  pride 
or  even  the  unauthorized  prohibition  of  the  Church. 
Whenever  the  exactions  of  social  standing  or  the  false 
teachings  of  ecclesiasticism  put  a  discount  on  mat- 
rimony the  home,  the  Church,  and  the  State  suffer 
vitally. 

There  was  really  no  ethical  question  involved  in  Lu- 
ther's marriage.  Of  course  he  had  taken  a  life-long 
pledge  to  celibacy  and  chastity.  The  latter  pledge  sim- 
ply recognized  an  obligation  that  existed  without  a 
pledge.  The  former  was  a  part  of  his  pledge  as  a 
member  of  the  Augustine  order,  and  later  as  a  Catholic 
priest.  If  any  part  of  these  monastic  and  priestly  vows 
was  binding,  every  part  was  binding.  He  had  made 
the  most  sacred  promises  to  obey  the  pope.  Fidelity  to 
these  promises  would  have  forever  barred  the  way  to 
his  becoming  a  reformer.  If  his  celibate  vow  could 
righteously  restrain  him  from  marriage,  his  priestly 
vows  would  have  bound  him  to  lifelong  loyalty  to  the 


2.22  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

pope  and  the  Catholic  Church.  His  excommunication 
by  the  pope  freed  him  from  the  latter ;  it  likewise  freed 
him  from  the  former.  Luther  so  regarded  the  matter, 
and  his  hesitancy  about  marrying  was  not  based  on 
moral  grounds. 

As  to  the  expediency  of  Luther's  marriage,  there  was 
room  for  doubt  on  his  own  part  as  well  as  on  the  part 
of  his  friends.  The  times  were  troublous.  Uncertainty, 
deep  and  ominous,  hung  over  his  own  future  and  that 
of  the  cause  he  had  championed.  He  was  under  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  ban.  His  unfailing  friend,  the  good 
Frederick,  was  no  more.  John,  the  new  elector,  was 
favorably  disposed  toward  him,  but  he  lacked  the  pres- 
tige and  the  influence  of  Frederick.  Luther  himself  be- 
lieved that  the  end  of  the  world  was  at  hand.  Besides, 
the  step  would  inevitably  subject  him  tO'  criticism,  and 
that,  too,  at  a  time  when  the  Protestant  movement  need- 
ed unity  of  spirit  and  purpose.  Many  of  his  friends 
would  be  offended.  Luther  knew  all  these  things,  but 
grew  desperate  at  last,  and  declared  that  he  would 
"marry  his  Katie  in  spite  of  the  devil."  He  said  he 
hoped  the  angels  would  laugh  and  the  devil  weep 
when  they  knew  about  it. 

Undoubtedly  his  mind  underwent  a  complete  change 
in  this  matter  so  far  as  his  own  marriage  was  con- 
cerned. To  every  suggestion  that  he  should  marry 
he  had  but  one  answer :  he  w^ould  not  do  so.  This  was 
his  repeated  declaration.  He  believed  in  the  marriage 
of  the  ministry,  but  he  did  not  claim,  the  right  for 
himself.  But  a  change  came,  came  suddenly,  and  he 
married  Katharina  von  Bora, 


Luther  s  Marriage.  223 

There  are  some  things  into  which  one  does  not  care 
to  inquire  too  closely.  Some  of  the  best  and  most 
sacred  things  in  life  are  too  subtle  for  analysis.  It  is 
not  necessary  that  one  should  know  the  number  of  the 
rose's  petals  or  the  degrees  covered  by  a  rainbow  or  the 
distance  of  a  star  to  see  the  beauty  in  star  and  rainbow 
and  flower.  Marriage  is  severely  practical,  but  the 
beginnings  of  true  matrimony  are  found  in  love;  and 
who  can  weigh  or  measure  love?  Luther  argued  with 
himself  before  and  after  his  marriage,  and  with  his 
friends  as  well,  and  gave  various  reasons  why  he 
should  take  the  step ;  but,  after  all,  the  real  reason  was 
that  he  loved  Katharina  von  Bora.  And  this  love  for 
the  woman  who  had  sought  his  protection  when  she 
fled  from  the  convent  was  as  much  a  part  of  the  won- 
drous providence  of  his  divinely  directed  life  as  any 
other  part  of  it,  and  it  was  only  natural.  For  twenty 
years  he  had  been  an  inmate  of  a  monastery.  His  was 
a  social  nature.  He  loved  home,  he  loved  friends,  he 
loved  children,  but  he  knew  nothing  of  the  joys  of 
these  natural  affections  except  the  lack  of  them.  The 
loneliness  of  his  life  was  intense ;  after  a  while  it  be- 
came intolerable.  From  a  mistaken  sense  of  duty  he 
had  denied  to  himself  the  domestic  happiness  which 
God  had  never  refused  him.  He  would  do  so  no 
longer. 

Luther's  domestic  life  was  thoroughly  happy.  No 
better  wife  for  him  could  have  been  found  in  all  the 
world.  Katharina  was  strong,  cheerful,  and  sympa- 
thetic. The  wealth  of  her  woman's  nature,  hoarded  up 
from  her  childhood,  was  given  fully  to  her  husband. 


224  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

She  had  hardly  known  before  what  it  was  to  love 
and  be  loved.  Rosaries  and  crucifixes,  prayers  and 
fasts,  cells  and  unbroken  routine  cannot  satisfy  the 
normal  child  or  woman.  Materialistic  affection  may 
be  an  evil,  but  after  all,  the  man  or  woman  who  does 
not  love  the  material  will  not  love  the  spiritual.  Kath- 
arina  was  not  merely  like  a  bird  out  of  a  cage ;  she 
was  like  a  bird  which,  liberated,  finds  its  mate,  and  the 
two  mingle  together  their  song  of  joy  and  love. 

The  newly  married  couple  were  poor.  Luther's  in- 
come was  scant  enough.  He  had  written  books  enough, 
and  they  had  been  sold  in  sufficiently  large  editions  to 
have  made  him  a  rich  man  if  he  had  only  received  a 
moderate  royalty  on  the  sales.  But  somehow,  possibly 
because  he  was  not  worldly  wise  and  because  he  was 
really  writing  to  help  others,  he  seems  to  have  received 
little  if  anything  from  their  sale. 

The  practical  Katharina  must  have  found  his  do- 
mestic establishment  greatly  in  need  of  attention.  He 
admits  that  his  bed  went  a  whole  year  without  making, 
and  was  mildewed  for  lack  of  attention.  He  says  that 
he  wo.uld  work  until  exhausted  at  night,  and  then  fall 
into  bed  and  know  nothing  more.  Katharina  looked 
well  to  all  these  matters,  and  was  a  jealous  guardian 
of  the  health  and  comfort  of  her  spouse.  As  for  Lu- 
ther, he  felt  a  bit  awkward  at  first.  He  had  braved  the 
displeasure  of  the  pope  and  had  faced  the  die^  without 
quaking,  but  he  was  not  so  indifferent  as  to  be  utterly 
insensible  as  to  what  his  friends  said  about  his  mar- 
riage. But  he  gathered  courage  as  time  went  by.  He 
became  thoroughly  domestic  in  his  ways.     He  turned 


Luther's  Marriage.  22^ 

his  attention  to  a  garden.  He  nrade  a  fountain.  He 
had  a  fish  pond.  He  turned  his  hand  to  many  practical 
things.    He  was  no  longer  a  recluse  in  life  or  tastes. 

And  a  year  after  the  marriage  a  baby  came  to  glad- 
den the  hearts  of  Luther  and  his  Katie.     The  proud 
father  gave  it  the  name  of  his  own  father,  and  the 
child  was  christened  John. 
15 


.CHAPTER  XVII. 
Luther  Up  to  the  Diet  of  Augsburg. 

Luther's  marriage  did  not  retard  the  Reformation. 
At  first,  of  course,  it  attracted  the  attention  of  friend 
and  foe  and,  as  has  already  been  noted,  was  the  occa- 
sion for  the  starting  of  some  vulgar  stories  which,  be 
it  said  to  their  shame,  some  of  Luther's  enemies  are 
willing  even  yet  to  repeat  as  true;  and  yet  they  are, 
as  they  were  at  the  beginning,  the  vilest  slanders. 
Jlander  has  never  been  a  good  argument  in  answer  to 
what  cannot  otherwise  be  answered,  but  it  has  been 
resorted  to  many  a  time  since  the  Jews  used  it  against 
the  Saviour,  as  well  as  before.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  step  that  Luther  had  taken  really  advanced  the 
cause  so  dear  to  his  heart.  He  had  insisted  on  some 
of  his  clerical  friends'  marriage,  and  when  he  took  a 
wife  himself  he  showed  to  all  the  world  that  he  had 
the  courage  to  be  consistent.  The  effect  of  his  mar- 
riage on  Luther  himself  is  observable  in  his  work  even 
yet.  He  was  less  radical  and  less  rash.  He  realized 
that  whatever  involved  his  own  personal  safety  like- 
wise involved  the  well-being  of  wife  and  family.  With 
him,  as  with  many  another  brave  man,  there  was  will- 
ingness to  suffer  himself,  but  he  shrank  from  subject- 
ing others  to  suffering  when  those  others  were  dearer 
to  him  than  life  itself. 

It  was  perhaps  unfortunate,  and  it  may  be  unfortu- 
nate still,  that  the  reformers  were  not  a  unit  in  all  that 

(226) 


Luther  Up  to  the  Diet  of  Augsburg.  227 

they  believed  and  taught.  But  such  unity  has  never 
existed  where  there  has  been  an  open  Bible  and  free- 
dom of  thought.  Differences  of  opinion  soon  showed 
themselves  among  the  men  who  found  the  better  way. 
The  nature  and  purpose  of  the  several  sacraments,  as 
well  as  their  number,  soon  became  matters  of  divergent 
views  and  warm,  sometimes  bitter,  controversy.  The 
Anabaptists,  who  certainly  received  their  inspiration 
and  impulse  from  the  teachings  of  Luther,  rejected  the 
baptism  of  infants.  The  question  of  the  real  presence 
in  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  early  in  the 
great  movement  took  on  the  proportions  of  a  vital  is- 
sue. This  was  inevitable.  The  Romish  Church  has 
always  taken  the  words  of  Jesus,  "This  is  my  body, 
.  .  .  this  is  my  blood,"  in  bald  literalness.  This  in- 
terpretation carries  with  it  the  idea  that  Jesus  meant 
to  say  to  his  disciples  that  they  were  partaking  of  the 
flesh  and  blood  of  the  very  bands  that  gave  them  the 
bread  and  wine.  It  is  inconceivable  that  the  partakers 
of  the  Last  Supper  understood  the  Saviour  thus.  The 
doctrine  of  the  change  of  the  bread  and  wine  into  the 
actual  body  and  blood  of  Christ  was  one  of  the  super- 
stitions of  the  Middle  Ages.  This  superstition  in  the 
course  of  time  led  to  the  grossest  idolatry.  The  disci- 
ples never  worshiped  the  mere  body  of  Jesus ;  but 
Rome  has  taught  her  followers  to  worship  the  bread 
and  wine  that  are  supposed  to  be  turned  into  that  body. 
Luther  rejected  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation. 
But  it  was  only  natural  that  he  should  fall  short  of  a 
full  comprehension  of  the  truth.  He  believed  and 
taught  that  while  the  elements  in  the  Lord's  Supper 


228  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

were  not  actually  changed  into  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  yet  in  some  iTi3^sterious  way  the  body  and  blood 
were  present  in  these  elements.  Others  of  his  con- 
temporaries held  a  different  view. 

The  Reformation  began  in  Switzerland  about  the 
same  time  it  did  in  Saxony.  Its  leader  was  the  brave 
but  unfortunate  Zwingli.  Zwingli  was  less  than  a  year 
younger  than  Luther.  Like  Luther,  he  became  a  priest. 
Scholarly,  devout,  and  courageous,  he  rose  to  promi- 
nence in  the  Church.  Zurich  is  historic  by  reason  of 
his  work  and  residence  there.  He  studied  Greek,  made 
a  copy  of  the  New  Testament  in  that  language  with 
his  own  hand,  and  even  memorized  the  entire  contents 
so  as  to  be  able  to  repeat  any  part  of  it  at  any  time. 
Of  course  this  made  him  a  reformer.  Rome  sought 
to  bribe  him  into  silence  by  the  offer  of  promotion. 
This  he  refused.  He  insisted  that  the  Bible  should  be 
taught  without  any  humlan  additions.  Some  of  the 
Swiss  cantons  adopted  his  doctrines.  Others  adhered 
to  the  Catholic  Church.  Civil  war  broke  out.  On  the 
nth  of  October,  1531,  a  battle  was  fought  between  the 
Zurich  forces  and  those  of  the  Catholic  cantons. 
Zwingli,  at  the  command  of  the  council  of  Zurich,  led 
the  Protestant  army.  The  latter  were  largely  out- 
numbered and  were  defeated,  .Zwingli  himself  being 
slain. 

Zwingli  taught  a  thoroughly  anti-Romish  view  of 
the  sacrament.  He  held  that  when  Jesus  said,  'This 
is  my  body,"  he  meant  to  say  **This  represents  my 
body."  Many  of  the  followers  of  Luther  accepted  this 
statement.     It  was  practically  the  contention  of  Karl- 


Luther  Up  to  the  Diet  of  Augsburg.  229 

stadt,  and  friction  came  as  a  result  of  the  discussion. 
An  effort  was  made  to  reach  a  satisfactory  solution  of 
the  question,  hut  nothing  tangible  or  permanent  came 
of  a  conference  that  was  held  with  a  view  to  reaching 
an  agreement.  It  was  a  time  of  intense  convictions, 
intense  faith,  and  unhappily  a  time  of  intense  preju- 
dices. Zeal  such  as  that  which  burned  in  the  hearts 
of  the  reformers  has  not  always  been  holy  fire.  Zeal 
needs  nothing  so  much  as  discretion,  and  yet  nothing 
is  oftener  lacking  when  men  become  thoroughly  aroused 
on  vital  questions. 

The  Reformation  had  now  gained  a  wide  support 
throughout  Germany.  The  Landgrave,  Philip  of  Hesse, 
followed  by  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  the  authorities  of 
the  city  of  Magdeburg,  and  other  places  united  with 
the  Elector  of  Saxony  in  a  sort  of  alliance  for  mutual 
protection  in  the  new  evangelical  doctrines.  A  similar 
alliance  had  been  formed  by  the  Catholic  States  of 
Germany.  From  this  time  forth  Luther's  energies 
were  given,  not  as  heretofore  to  opposing  the  errors  of 
Romanism,  but  to  correcting  the  effects  of  these  long- 
standing errors.  He  had  shown  himself  a  master  in 
the  overturning  of  abuses  ;  he  was  now  to  show  himself 
a  master  in  the  reconstruction  of  institutions.  An  un- 
skilled workman  can  tear  down  a  building ;  only  an  ex- 
perienced builder  can  take  the  materials  and  build  them 
into  a  new  house.  Luther  now  showed  the  qualities  of 
an  ecclesiastical  statesman.  His  work  from  this  time 
forth  was  less  scenic,  but  it  was  none  the  less  useful. 

Things  were  in  confusion.  The  people  were  igno- 
rant, and  many  of  them  dissolute.     Luther  knew  very 


230  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

well  that  there  was  a  material  difference  between  per- 
suading men  to  give  up  Romanism  and  persuading 
them  to  become  Christians.  Whatever  he  may  have 
thought  as  to  civil  and  religious  liberty,  he  was  too 
wise  to  advocate  the  absolute  separation  of  Church  and 
State  at  this  time.  He  believed  that  it  was  the  duty  of 
the  civil  authorities  to  look  after  the  spiritual  needs  of 
the  people.  He  urged  the  Elector  John  to  take  up  the 
matter.  He  inaugurated  a  simple  order  of  service  in 
the  Church  at  Wittenberg.  In  this  the  German  lan- 
guage was  used.  This  ultimately  became  the  uniform 
order  throughout  Protestant  Germany.  He  sug-gested, 
and  insisted  upon  the  suggestion  being  carried  out, 
that  a  general  visitation  be  made  by  competent  men 
throughout  the  Churches,  and  that  these  visiting  com- 
missioners be  authorized  to  correct  as  far  as  possible 
all  existing  abuses.  Some  time  elapsed  before  these 
suggestions  were  fully  carried  out.  The  results  of  this 
official  investigation  quite  justified  Luther's  judgment. 
At  one  place  the  preacher  was  a  sort  of  fortune  teller. 
At  another  the  pastor  was  unable  to  repeat  the  Lord's 
Prayer  and  the  Apostles'  Creed.  Drunkenness  and 
dissolute  living  were  common  among  the  clergy.  This 
was  the  spiritual  legacy  left  to  the  Protestants  by  the 
Romish  hierarchy.  Luther  exerted  his  influence  in 
behalf  of  schools  and  popular  education.  Unquestion- 
ably the  fact  that  the  German  people  are  the  most  gen- 
erally educated  people  in  all  the  world  is  due  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Lutheran  movement. 
•*'  Except  the  German  Bible  itself,  the  richest  gift  of 
Martin  Luther  to  his  beloved  Germans  was  his  cate- 


Luther  Up  to  the  Diet  of  Augsburg.  231 

chism.  This  was  so  simple,  and  at  the  same  time  so 
comprehensive,  that  for  generations  it  has  been  placed 
in  the  hands  of  the  young,  and  has  for  more  than  three 
hundred  years  kept  the  heart  of  Germany  true  to  the 
principles  of  the  Reformation  and  the  Bible.  This 
catechism  (there  were  really  two  of  them — a  larger 
and  a  smaller  one)  has  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
children  of  successive  generations  in  the  common 
schools,  and  familiarity  with  it  has  been  required  of 
every  boy  and  girl  who  has  been  confirmed  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Lutheran  Church.  It  has  been  more  potent 
in  shaping*  the  character  and  destiny  of  the  German 
peoples  than  laws  and  arms  and  armies.  The  first 
edition  of  this  catechism  appeared  about  1529. 

All  this  time  Luther  was  happy  with  his  Katie.  He 
often  wrote  in  a  discouraged,  despondent  way  about 
many  things,  but  there  was  always  a  note  of  deep  con- 
tentment in  what  he  wrote  and  said  about  his  home  life. 
The  year  after  his  marriage,  as  already  mentioned,  his 
little  Hans  came.  The  next  year,  in  December,  little 
Elizabeth  was  added  to  the  family  circle.  But  there 
were  trials  in  the  home,  as  there  are  in  all  homes, 
though  none  of  those  which  come  from  lack  of  love 
and  harmony  between  husband  and  wife.  Luther  had 
a  serious  struggle  with  sickness.  He  developed  a  trouble 
(the  gravel)  at  this  time  from  which  he  suflfered  hot  a 
little  first  and  last.  One  day  In  July,  1527,  he  was 
attacked  by  a  sudden  rush  of  blood  to  his  head,  and 
almost  died  before  relief  came.  Indeed,  he  thought  he 
was  dying,  and  summoned  his  household  about  him. 
He  comforted  his  good  wife,  blessed  his  little  Hans, 


232  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

who  smiled  back  at  his  sick  father,  and  pointed  to  some 
silver  cups  which  had  been  given  to  him  and  which 
were  about  all  his  earthly  possessions,  and  which  he 
wished  his  Katie  to  have.  But  he  rallied  and  was  soon 
on  his  feet  again.  In  his  days  of  semi-invalidism  he  had 
a  disagreeable,  distressing  return  of  his  old  spiritual 
struggles.  Satan  used  his  physical  ailments  to  buffet 
him  withal.  As  wise  as  he  was,  and  as  fully  as  he  be- 
lieved in  the  power  and  presence  of  the  evil  one,  he 
never  quite  learned  the  crcfty  ways  and  wiles  of  his  old 
enemy.  Much  of  his  depression  was  of  course  tem- 
peramental. There  are  intense  natures  whose  joys  are 
ecstasies  and  whose  aches  are  agonies.  Luther's  na- 
ture was  one  of  this  sort.  Sadly  enough  for  the  re- 
former,.  however,  there  were  more  sorrows  and  trials 
in  his  life  than  joys.  Luther's  lot  was  hard,  but  he  was 
faithful  in  suffering  as  in  labor. 

In  the  autumn  of  1527  the  plague  broke  out  in  Wit- 
tenberg. As  usual,  its  appearance  created  a  panic. 
The  university  itself  was  removed  temporarily  to  Jena. 
Those  who  could  do  so  fled  from  the  city.  The  Elector 
John  urged  Luther  to  seek  safety  elsewhere.  He  wrote 
Luther  a  personal  letter,  in  which  he  insisted  that  the 
reformer's  life  was  too  important  at  this  juncture  to  be 
imperiled  by  tarrying  in  Wittenberg.  But  Luther  did 
not  flee  from  the  danger.  He  could  not  well  take  his 
family  with  him,  and  he  would  not  leave  them  behind. 
He  would  not  desert  his  people  in  a  time  like  this. 
He  could  but  die  at  his  post,  and  to  die  thus  would  be 
martyrdom ;  and  had  he  not  faced  martyrdom  before  ? 
Death  was  abroad  in   the  city ;  sorrow  was  in  many 


Luther  Up  to  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  233 

homes,  and  terror  everywhere.  The  plague  entered 
his  own  household.  A  woman  that  was  an  inmate  of 
his  home  was  smitten.  He  was  deeply  anxious  about 
his  wife,  whose  condition  made  the  danger  all  the  more 
critical. 

But  the  visitation  was  not  protracted.  The  pestilence 
soon  subsided.  The  inmate  of  his  household  recovered. 
His  Katie  was  safely  delivered  of  the  daughter  that 
v/as  christened  Elizabeth.  The  clouds  lifted  from  his 
home  and  from  his  city,  and  he  went  on  with  his  work. 
The  very  troubles  through  which  he  had  passed  served 
as  a  wholesome  corrective  of  some  of  those  mental 
moods  and  bitter  struggles  which  he  had  known.  Chris- 
tians need  outward  troubles.  By  them  they  are  often 
saved  from  those  spiritual  sorrows  which  are  harder 
to  bear.  It  is  hard  to  fight  unseen  foes.  It  is  not 
strange  that  some  of  the  most  peaceful  hours  that  come 
to  those  who  know  the  Lord  come  in  the  midst  of  the 
severest  conflicts. 

Luther,  who  was  always  practical,  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  farming.  He  bought  some  improved  seeds  and 
tools,  and  determined  to  provide  for  emergencies  and 
attain  financial  independence  by  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil.  He  had  never  sought  prominence,  and  was  will- 
ing, as  he  had  always  been,  and  was  even  more  willing 
now  that  he  had  a  family,  to  retire  to  private  life.  His 
peasant  blood  and  training  stood  him  in  good  stead  at 
this  time,  as  it  did  in  many  other  times  in  his  life.  He 
was  delighted  to  find  that  he  could  do  these  common- 
place things,  and  that  if  the  worst  came  he  could  take 
care  of  his  wife  and  children  on  a  farm.    In  the  course 


234  ^  -^^/^  of  Martin  Luther. 

of  time  he  bought  a  Httle  farm  on  which  he  raised 
grain  and  other  things  and,  better  still,  found  the  recre- 
ation that  he  really  needed.  The  morbid  life  of  the 
cloister  dropped  off  in  the  open  air  of  the  garden  and 
the  field. 

But  there  v/ere  other  perils  besides  the  plague.  Rome 
had  not  relaxed  its  opposition.  That  he  had  escaped 
the  stake  up  to  this  time  was  not  due  to  any  papal 
clemency.  A  new  pope  had  come  to  the  throne.  Ha- 
drian, like  the  ancient  king  of  Judah,  had  died  without 
being  desired.  x-\nother  member  of  the  Medici,  though 
an  illegitimate  descendant  of  that  aristocratic  Italian 
family,  occupied  the  papal  chair.  He  took  the  title 
of  Clement  VH.  As  cultured  as  Leo,  more  liberal  than 
Hadrian,  more  virtuous  than  most  of  his  immediate  pred- 
ecessors, well  trained  to  the  ways  of  the  papacy  as  a 
member  of  the  curia  under  Leo  and  Hadrian,  it  was 
thought  by  friends  of  the  Church  that  he  was  peculiar- 
ly well  fitted  for  the  office  of  pope  at  this  particular 
time.  But  never  a  more  unfortunate  pope  occupied  the 
reputed  seat  of  St.  Peter,  and  scarcely  a  more  unwise 
one.  The  spirit  and  policies  of  his  predecessors  for 
more  than  a  century  came  to  their  disastrous  climax 
during  his  reign.  The  papacy  has  never  been  the  same 
since  he  sat  for  a  decade  in  the  Vatican.  As  one  studies 
his  history  one  naturally  thinks  of  the  fabled  dog  of 
old  ^sop  which,  growling  at  his  own  shadow  in  the 
stream  he  was  crossing,  dropped  the  piece  of  meat  he 
was  carrying.  Clement  loved  temporal  power.  Break- 
ing sacred  treaties,  employing  fictitious  agencies,  and 
finall}'    resorting    to    arms    to    secure    or    preserve 


Luther  Up  to  the  Diet  of  Augsburg.  235 

this,  he  lost  forever  to  the  papacy  the  northern  and 
western  nations  of  Europe.  One  wonders  what  would 
have  happened  had  his  immediate  successor,  Paul  III., 
instead  of  Clement,  come  to  the  papal  throne.  Had 
Paul  reigned  a  score  of  years  sooner,  somie  of  the  chap- 
ters of  the  great  Reformation  might  have  been  written 
differently,  and  others  might  never  have  been  written  at 
all.  But  the  folly  of  popes  and  Churches  is  like  the 
folly  of  individuals ;  it  always  brings  the  consequences 
of  folly.  Papal  infallibility  cannot  reverse  this  law. 
The  folly  of  Julius  and  Leo  and  Hadrian  and  Clement 
was  not  like  dead  leaves  scattered  by  the  winds  of  win- 
ter ;  it  was  the  tares  that  could  produce  only  a  harvest 
of  falsehood  and  disaster.  And  such  harvests  must  be 
gathered  and  garnered,  whether  the  harvester  will  or 
not. 

A  notable  diet  was  held  at  Speyer  in  the  summer  of 
1526.  Other  gatherings  of  a  royal  character  had 
been  held  in  the  old  city  by  the  Rhine ;  for  the  emper- 
ors had  sometimes  made  their  homes  there  for  a  sea- 
son. But  no  diet  ever  held  there  was  so  important  in 
some  of  its  doings  as  the  one  that  met  there  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1526.  Ferdinand  of  Austria,  brother  to  Charles 
V.  and  a  faithful  servant  of  the  pope,  had  seen  the 
emperor  and  obtained  from  him  unequivocal  instruc- 
tions as  to  what  should  be  done  in  the  matter  of  en- 
forcing the  imperial  edict  against  Lutlier,  which  had 
been  allowed  to  lie  dormant  for  some  time.  The 
circumstances  seemed  propitious  for  carrying  out  this 
edict.  Charles  had  won  a  complete  victory  over  Fran- 
cis, his  inveterate  enemy,  and  this  unfortunate  king  of 


236  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

France  had  been  made  his  prisoner.  The  two  had 
agreed  upon  a  treaty  that  had  two  objects  of  united 
effort  in  view.  One  of  these  was  the  war  against  the 
infidel  Turks,  the  other  was  the  crushing  out  of  the 
heretics  in  Germany.  These  enterprises  assuredly  com- 
mended themselves  to  the  sympathy  and  interest  of  the 
holy  father.  It  was  the  best  and  the  last  opportunity 
Clement  or  any  of  his  successors  ever  had  to  wield  the 
secular  arm  so  mightily  against  the  Reformation. 
But  Clement  lost  the  opportunity,  rather  threw  it  away, 
and  it  could  never  be  regained.  His  folly  led  to  a 
tragic,  if  not  providential  retribution.  It  led  to  the 
capture  and  pillage  of  Rome  itself  by  the  Protestant 
army  under  the  banner  of  Charles. 

Clement  grew  jealous  of  Charles's  power  in  Italy. 
The  emperor  was  virtually  supreme  in  the  Italian  Pe- 
ninsula. The  pope  was  not  sure  that  his  own  domin- 
ions were  safe  from  his  invasion.  Clement  began  ne- 
gotiations with  Francis.  He  absolved  that  conquered 
monarch  from  the  conditions  of  the  unwilling  treaty 
he  had  made  with  Charles.  Francis  promised  his  sup- 
port in  the  war  Clement  proposed  to  make  on  Charles. 
Henry  VHI.  of  England,  who  was  anxious  to  obtain 
the  papal  consent  to  his  divorce  from  Catharine  of 
Aragon,  the  aunt  of  Charles,  pledged  substantial  as- 
sistance. The  two  kings  and  the  pope  entered  into  a 
*'holy  alliance"  against  Charles.  Open  war  followed. 
In  the  early  part  of  1527  the  imperial  army  entered 
Rome.  Among  the  conquering  soldiers  were  many 
Protestants  from  Germany.  They  had  willingly  served 
under  the  imperial  banner  in  the  campaign  against  the 


Luther  Up  to  the  Diet  of  Augsburg.  237 

pope.  The  old  count  who  had  spoken  so  encouraging- 
ly to  Luther  when  the  latter  was  called  before  the  Diet 
of  Worms  led  the  German  division  of  the  conquering 
army  across  the  Alps,  and  would  have  been  at  its  head 
when  Rome  was  entered  but  for  a  sudden  breaking 
down  of  his  health  after  entering  Italy.  The  ancient 
city,  so  often  conquering  and  so  often  conquered,  was 
given  over  to  the  pillage  of  the  soldiers.  Many  treas- 
ures of  art  were  carried  away,  gold  and  silver  were  ap- 
propriated unceremoniously,  and  the  hungry,  needy  sol- 
diery helped  themselves  without  stint  to  the  good  things 
in  the  Vatican  and  in  the  palaces  of  the  rich.  But  not 
many  acts  of  violence  were  committed  by  the  troops, 
and  the  pope  escaped  with  nothing  more  serious  than 
complete  discomfiture. 

Clement  gladly  concluded  a  peace  with  Charles,  and 
was  shrewd  enough  to  snatch  from  defeat  some  of  the 
fruits  of  victory.  He  gained  temporal  power  in  Italy 
but  lost  it  elsewhere.  And  the  shock  he  gave  to  Charles 
must  have  awakened  strange  thoughts  in  the  mind  of 
the  emperor.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  cause, 
whether  this  war  with  the  papacy  or  other  reasons  of 
a  political  nature,  it  is  certain  that  Charles's  attitude 
toward  the  Lutherans  was  more  conciliatory  after  this 
than  it  bad  ever  been  before. 

Of  course  all  this  history  was  not  written  before  the 
diet  met  at  Speyer,  but  its  initial  stages  had  been 
reached.  The  original  instructions  from  Charles  were 
withheld  by  Ferdinand,  and  in  the  absence  of  the  em- 
peror and  free  from  any  pressure  from  him,  the  diet 
took  no  action  against  Luther  and  his  fellow-reformers. 


238  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

In  fact,  some  of  the  most  influential  members  of  the 
royal  body  were  evangelical,  and  in  open  and  avowed 
sympathy  with  the  truths  for  which  the  movement 
came  into  being.  Luther's  books  were  sold  publicly 
on  the  streets,  and  the  sacrament  in  both  kinds  was  ad- 
ministered in  the  churches. 

The  body  adjourned  in  August.  Its  final  action  left 
spiritual  matters  to  be  disposed  of  by  the  several  States 
as  each  might  find  it  expedient.  This  was  really  all 
that  the  Evangelicals  had  ever  contended  for.  Civil 
freedom  and  not  political  force  has  always  been  the 
human  reliance  of  Protestantism.  If  now  and  then, 
here  and  there,  it  has  departed  from  this  standard,  such 
departure  has  come  about  through  a  failure  to  throw 
off  utterly  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  union  between 
Church  and  State. 

The  outcome  of  this  diet  at  Speyer  was  the  first  vic- 
tory of  Protestantism  in  its  battle  for  freedom  of  con- 
science. The  shackles  thus  broken  could  never  be  re- 
placed upon  its  hands  and  feet  again. 

Left  thus  to  give  his  attention  to  shaping  and  giving 
proper  direction  to  the  new  movement  and  bringing 
into  proper  action  the  dynamic  forces  which  it  had  set 
free,  Luther  went  on  with  his  real  work  as  the  re- 
former. What  has  been  stated  already  may  be  re- 
peated with  emphasis:  He  had  no  thought  or  inten- 
tion of  founding  a  new  Church  at  the  beginning. 
Whatever  intention  or  effort  he  may  have  put  forth 
afterwards,  particularly  at  this  stage  of  his  history, 
grew  out  of  the  very  emergencies  that  had  arisen.  It 
was  not  enough  to  tear  down  the  old  sheep  fold,  which 


Luther  Up  to  the  Diet  of  Augsburg.  239 

was  unsafe  for  the  flock.  A  new  fold  must  be  built. 
Out  of  his  effort,  but  with  no  intention  of  perpetuat- 
ing his  name  by  it,  gradually  took  form  the  Lutheran 
Church  of  Germany  and  of  many  other  nations. 

But  the  establishment  of  the  Lutheran  Church  did 
not  come  at  this  time.  Many  a  day  of  persecution  and 
struggle  passed  before  this  was  accomplished.  The 
great  oak  that  lives  for  centuries  gathers  strength  from 
the  winds  that  beat  upon  its  boughs.  The  very  sta- 
bility of  the  Church  has  come  to  it  from  its  persecutions. 
Its  enemies  have  often  been  its  best  friends. 

The  days  of  controversy  were  not  yet  over,  nor  the 
days  of  danger.  The  pope  and  the  emperor  were  a 
constant  menace,  and  so  were  the  Catholic  German 
States.  Ever  and  anon  there  were  ominous  thunder 
mutterings  from  INIadrid  and  from  Rome.  But  a  com- 
mon danger  did  not  unite  the  reformers.  Zwingli  and 
Luther  contended  sharply  about  the  question  of  the  real 
presence.  The  difference  between  them  was  more 
metaphysical  than  material.  Luther  believed  that  it 
was  not  the  physical  but  the  spiritual  body  of  Jesus 
that  was  present  in  the  elements  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  virtually  that  only  believers  were  benefited  by  this 
presence,  and  that,  too,  in  only  a  spiritual  way.  Zwing- 
li contended  that  the  bread  and  wine  were  only  em- 
blems of  the  body  and  blood,  and  that  the  partaking  of. 
them  was  simply  a  means  of  grace  to  the  believer,  and 
not  necessarily  more  beneficial  than  other  means  of 
grace.  Since  these  reformers  were  practically  agreed 
as  to  the  benefits  and  beneficiaries  of  this  ordinance, 
one  is  tempted  to  wonder  why  they  contended  so  hotly 


240  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

as  to  the  modus  operandi  of  the  sacrament.  But  each 
of  these  honest  men  saw  a  vital  question  involved  in 
the  controversy,  and  really  more  than  one  vital  ques- 
tion. But  they  did  not  always  see  each  other's  sin- 
cerity. Luther  thought  Zwingli  was  a  fanatic,  and 
Zwingli  had  a  similar  opinion  of  Luther. 

As  we  shall  see  later,  this  controversy  came  to  a 
focus  in  a  personal  meeting  and  discussion  between 
Luther  and  Zwingli.  But  the  issue  was  never  really 
settled,  and  remains  a  matter  of  difference  between 
two  of  the  great  branches  of  the  Reformed  Church 
until  this  very  day. 

Luther  had  other  controversies.  He  wrote  a  sec- 
ond letter  to  Duke  George,  much  more  conciliatory 
than  his  previous  communications  to  that  nobleman, 
and  one  of  similar  purport  to  Herry  VIIL,  of  England. 
The  answers  that  he  received  to  these  olive  branch  ef- 
forts were  coarse  and  vindictive.  Luther  answered 
Henry  in  a  manly  way.  If  he  was  a  sinner,  as  Henry 
charged,  he  was  such  only  in  the  sight  of  God.  As  to 
virtue,  the  king  was  not  worthy  to  unloose  his  shoes. 
He  was  a  fool  for  trusting  men,  even  kings,  too  readily. 
His  controversy  with  George  was  cut  short  by  a  com- 
mand from  the  Elector  John. 

As  decided  as  Luther  was,  and  as  ready  to  enter  into 
controversy,  in  which  he  never  minced  words,  he  had 
no  intolerant  spirit  of  persecution.  Very  severe  meas- 
ures of  repression  were  taken  against  the  Anabaptists 
by  the  authoiities,  some  of  them  being  put  to  death. 
Luther  disapproved  and  condemned  all  this.  '  He  in- 
sisted that  a  man  should  be  allowed  to  think  as  he 


Luther  Up  to  the  Diet  of  Augsburg.  241 

chose,  that  faith  was  essentially  free.  In  this  matter 
Luther  was  not  only  in  advance  of  his  age  generally; 
he  was  in  advance  of  his  contemporary  reformers.  He 
knew  the  heart  of  a  hunted,  persecuted  man,  and  he 
was  too  true  to  the  lessons  of  his  own  experience  to 
persecute  others.  He  was  equally  decided  in  his  views 
as  to  the  taking  up  of  arms  in  defense  of  the  gospel. 
A  meeting  of  the  diet  was  held  at  Speyer  in  the  spring 
of  1529.  At  this  meeting  the  body  went  as  far  as  it 
could  in  reversing  the  tolerant  action  of  three  years 
before.  It  was  evident  that  the  Catholic  States  of 
Gerniany  were  acting  in  concert,  and  that  a  tacit,  if  not 
a  specific,  agreement  had  been  reached  by  them  to  co- 
operate w  ith  each  other  and  with  the  emperor  in  crush- 
ing out  the  Reformation.  The  minority  members  of 
the  body,  headed  by  the  impetuous  Philip,  Landgrave 
of  Hesse,  entered  a  protest  against  the  action  taken 
by  the  majority.  ,  This  protest  gave  name  to  the  fol- 
lowers of  Luther  and  other  reformers,  and  through 
the  centuries  since  then  they  have  been  known  as  Prot- 
estants. 

The  protesting  princes  now  entered  into  a  league  for 
mutual  protection,  and  were  ready  to  take  up  arms  in 
defense  of  the  principles  they  regarded  as  essential  to 
the  true  faith.  It  was  now  that  Luther  spoke  his  con- 
victions as  to  going  to  war  for  the  protection  of  the 
gospel  and  its  followers.  He  insisted  that  Christians 
should  have  more  faith  in  God.  He  reminded  his 
friends  that  fesus  said  that  ''they  that  take  the  sword 
should  perish  with  the  sword."  And  he  brought  for- 
ward the  same  views  that  he  had  advanced  some  years 
16 


242  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

before  this  as  to  the  relations  between  the  individual 
citizen  and  the  State  in  the  matter  of  faith.  The  faith 
of  the  citizen  was  not  subject  to  the  dictation  of  the 
State,  but  in  case  the  State  undertook  to  enforce  belief 
upon  its  citizens  or  subjects  the  latter  were  not  justified 
by  Scripture  in  resisting  force  with  force.  The  author- 
ity of  Charles,  he  contended,  was  supreme  in  Germany, 
and  while  the  emperor  could  be  deposed  by  a  unanimous 
vote  of  the  diet,  his  authority  could  not  be  set  aside 
by  any  particular  State  or  combination  of  States  as 
long  as  he  was  emperor. 

In  this  connection  another  fact  illustrating  Luther's 
patriotism  should  be  mentioned.  The  aggressions  of 
the  Turks  in  Southeastern  and  Central  Europe  were  a 
real  menace  to  Western  civilization  and  to  the  life  of  the 
nations  that  were  at  least  nominally  Christians.  Wher- 
ever these  conquering  semisavages  from  Asia  had 
carried  the  conquering  crescent,  the  extirpation  of 
Christianity  had  followed,  at  least  to  the  extent  that 
fire  and  sword  could  accomplish  this  dire  result.  The 
Turks  had  overrun  Hungary,  and  about  this  time  laid 
siege  to  Vienna.  The  popes  had  repeatedly  sounded 
the  note  of  alarm  throughout  Western  Europe,  and 
had  asked  and  received  money  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
sisting these  invaders.  Unfortunately,  however,  it  was 
known  that  money  raised  for  this  object  had  been  ap- 
plied to  other  and  less  comm-endable  enterprises,  and 
naturally  many  had  grown  indifferent  by  reason  of  this 
repeated  cry  of  wolf.  Luther  made  a  strong  and  pa- 
triotic appeal  to  his  fellow-countrymen  to  aid  in  car- 
rying forward  this  war  of  defense.    He  said  that  it  was 


Luther  Up  to  the  Diet  of  Augsburg.  243 

not  another  crusade,  but  a  fight  for  the  very  existence 
of  the  Church. 

The  action  of  the  diet  in  the  spring  of  1529  has  al- 
ready been  noted.  In  view  of  this  action  and  the  fact 
that  Charles  and  the  pope  were  once  more  on  friendly 
terms,  together  with  the  expected  coming  of  Charles 
to  Germany  the  next  year  to  attend  the  next  meetinq: 
of  the  diet  in  person,  it  was  very  desirable  that  the  re- 
formers of  every  shade  of  opinion  should  be  brought 
into  harmonious  cooperation.  It  was  especially  the 
wish  of  the  friends  of  the  movement  that  the  Swiss 
Evangelicals  and  those  of  Gemiany  should  be  brought 
together.  Besides  the  moral  effect  such  a  union  would 
have,  there  were  supposed  political  reasons  why  this 
harmony  was  important.  The  Swiss  have  been  great 
soldiers.  For  many  centuries  they  have  been  the  mil- 
itary free  lances  of  Europe.  Kings  and  popes  have 
been  glad  to  have  them  as  their  special  and  trusted 
bodyguard.  \\'itli  a  large  Swiss  contingent  rallying 
round  the  Protestant  cause,  Charles  would  be  more 
willing  to  deal  in  a  conciliatory  way  Avith  the  reformers. 
The  line  of  separation  between  the  Protestants  of  Zu- 
rich and  of  Wittenberg  was  the  difference  between  the 
two  factions  as  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  To  the  mind  of 
the  layman  this  division  seemed  so  insignificant  as  to 
have  little  weight  against  the  larger  benefits  of  Protest- 
ant union  at  this  time  of  common  danger.  Philip,  who 
was  now  the  recognized  leader  among  the  Protestant 
princes,  determined  if  possible  to  bring  about  a  meet- 
ing between  Luther  and  Zwingli  and  a  reconciliation 
between  them. 


244  ^  -^'7^  of  Martin  Luther. 

He  succeeded  in  bringing  the  warring  theologians 
face  to  face.  Luther  was  reluctant  about  entering  into 
the  arrangement,  but  Zwingli  was  more  than  willing. 
It  is  said  that  he  slipped  away  from  Zurich  at  night  so 
as  to  avoid  detention  by  the  authorities,  who  Vv^ere  un- 
willing for  him  to  go.  Perhaps  Luther  regarded  the 
enterprise  as  useless ;  perhaps  Zwingli  expected  more 
from  the  conference  than  was  possible.  The  time  and 
place  of  meeting  were  well  chosen.  It  was  the  early  au- 
tumn, a  season  when  men  are  best  prepared,  it  seems, 
for  calm  deliberation.  The  place  was  the  beautifully 
situated  town  of  Marburg,  on  the  River  Lahn.  The 
theologians  were  entertained  in  the  old  castle  by  Philip. 
This  venerable  building  stands  on  a  hill  overlook- 
ing a  lovely  valley,  with  the  river  flowing  at  its  foot, 
wooded  hills  not  far  away,  and  mountains  in  the  dis- 
tance. The  hall  where  the  contestants  met  had  been  the 
gathering  place  for  knights  in  other  days,  and  Philip 
himself  acted  as  chairman.  The  fare  was  sumptuous, 
and  everything  inside  and  outside  the  old  castle  was 
calculated  to  inspire  peace  and  good  fellowship. 

Luther  was  accompanied  and  assisted  in  the  debate 
by  Melanchthon,  as  well  as  one  or  twO'  others,  while 
Zwingli  had  as  his  fellow-disputant  the  learned 
/^colampadius.  The  debates  lasted  parts  of  two  or 
three  days.  The  debaters  gathered  round  a  table. 
On  this  Luther  had  written  with  a  piece  of  chalk  on 
the  velvet  cover:  ''Hoc  meiim  corpus  est.''  These 
words  of  the  Saviour  were  his  sole  argument  and  re- 
liance throughout  the  discussion.  He  refused  to  lis- 
ten to  anything  that  lessened  the  literal  meaning  of 


Luther  Up  to  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  245 

these  words  of  the  Saviour.  Zwingli's  argument 
ranged  around  the  words  of  the  Saviour  in  the  sixth 
chapter  of  John :  "The  flesh  profiteth  nothing."  The 
discussion  was  sharp,  but  the  spirit  of  the  contestants 
was  in  the  main  brotherly  and  courteous.  Luther  was 
dogmatic ;  Zwingli  was  argumentative.  The  former 
was  choleric  and  excitable;  the  latter  was  cooler  and 
more  judicious.  Luther  was  not  convinced,  and 
Zwingli  was  not  willing  to  yield  one  jot  or  tittle.  The 
discussion  was  about  to  terminate  in  a  fruitless  and  ut- 
terly disappointing  way.  It  might  have  continued  long- 
er, but  the  dread  "sweating  sickness,"  one  of  the  worst 
of  the  plagues  of  the  Middle  Ages,  resulting,  like  the 
rest,  from  the  ignorance  and  unsanitary  conditions  of 
those  dark  days,  had  broken  out  in  the  town.  It  was 
a  terror  from  which  kings  and  nobles  fled  in  dismay, 
for  it  often  invaded  palaces  and  castles,  and  its  rav- 
ages were  more  fearful  than  the  cholera  or  the  yellow 
fever.  Philip  would  not  consent  that  the  conference 
should  prove  absolutely  abortive.  He  urged  the  con- 
tending parties  to  leave  unsettled  the  question  about 
which  they  differed  and  seek  for  a  basis  of  agreement. 
When  men  argue,  they  usually  get  farther  apart ;  when 
they  reason,  they  generally  get  closer  together.  In  the 
one  case  differences  are  magnified ;  in  tlie  other  points 
of  agreement  are  sought  out  and  brought  forward. 
Much  feeling  was  manifested  in  the  last  stage  of  the 
debate.  These  good  mien  were  at  last  comiing  to  a 
better  understanding  of  each  other  and  of  the  spirit 
of  true  brotherhood.  Zwingli  burst  into  tears.  Lu- 
ther was  moved.     All  parties  shook  hands.    "We  will 


246  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

meet  in  the  spirit  of  charity,"  said  Luther.  "After  a 
while  we  shall  be  brethren." 

It  was  agreed  that  a  statement  should  be  drawn  up 
setting  forth  the  points  on  which  the  two  factions  were 
united.  All  parties  looked  to  Luther  to  prepare  this 
paper.  He  retired  to  his  closet,  and  we  cannot  doubt 
but  that  he  gave  earnest  prayer  as  well  as  earnest 
thought  to  the  matter  in  hand.  He  hardly  hoped  to 
prepare  a  paper  that  all  would  agree  to.  His  success, 
however,  surpassed  his  hopes.  He  presented  after 
some  time  a  series  of  fifteen  articles  which  contained 
the  essentials  of  Protestantism.  These  related  to  the 
fundamental  doctrines  of  the  divine  unity  and  trinity, 
the  incarnation  and  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  his  death 
and  resurrection,  and  besides  these,  stated  clearly  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  alone  and  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  The  statement  condemned  the  mass 
and  announced  the  real  presence  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, but  left  the  question  as  to  the  nature  of  his  pres- 
ence without  distinct  statement — in  other  words, 
whether  this  presence  was  bodily  or  spiritual. 

All  parties  signed  this  agreement,  and  the  result  of 
this  historic  conference  at  Marburg  was  one  of  the 
first  evidences  sent  forth  to  the  world  of  the  substan- 
tial unity  among  Protestants.  It  is  the  only  unity 
that  is  possible  between  Christians — a  unity  in  es- 
sentials, and  freedom  in  nonessentials. 

This  Marburg  gathering  did  not  stay  fully  the  con- 
troversy touching  the  issues  involved  in  the  discussion, 
but  the  tone  of  the  discussion  ever  afterwards  was 
more  conservative  and   conciliatory.     The  leaders  of 


Luther  Up  to  the  Diet  of  Augsburg.  247 

the  Refonnation  had  come  to  know  each  other  better, 
and  this  was  no  small  gain  to  them  and  to  the  move- 
ment that  was  working  a  world-wide  revolution. 

This  conference  was  held  on  the  last  of  September 
and  the  first  days  of  October,  1529,  and  the  agree- 
ment is  known  in  history  as  the  ''Marburg  Articles." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Luther  at  Coburg,  the   Diet  of  Augsburg,   and 
Other  Events  in  His  History. 

The  year  1530  was  memorable  in  the  history  of  the 
great  Reformation.  One  of  the  events  of  this  year 
marked  an  epoch  in  the  great  movement.  This  was 
the  formulation  of  the  Augsburg  Confession  of  Faith, 
which,  together  with  the  articles  agreed  upon  by  Lu- 
ther and  Zwingli,  of  which  mention  was  made  in  the 
last  chapter,  constituted  the  basis  of  most  of  the  sub- 
sequent creeds  of  Protestantism. 

LTp  to  this  time  the  Protestants  had  confined  them- 
selves mainly  to  negatives  and  denials.  These  may 
suffice  for  a  bond  of  union  during  a  season  of  strug- 
gle against  error  and  oppression,  but  a  chain  of  ne- 
gations cannot  hold  men  together  for  any  great  length 
of  time.  The  tie  must  be  strengthened  by  positive  and 
unequivocal  affirmations. 

The  situation  of  Luther  and  his  followers  was  se- 
rious, if  not  full  of  peril  to  themselves  and  their  cause. 
The  pope  and  the  emperor  had  patched  up  a  peace. 
There  was  a  lull  in  the  hostilities  between  Francis 
and  Charles.  Clement  was  urgent  in  his  wishes  and  de- 
mands with  reference  to  the  suppression  of  the  Luther- 
an heresy,  though  prudent  enough  to  counsel  mild 
measures  at  first.  His  legate,  Campeggio,  had  in- 
structions that  were  bloody  enough,  however,  had 
Charles   listened  to  them.     The  diet  was  to  meet  at 

(248) 


Coburg,  Diet  of  Augsburg,  and  OtJier  Events.  249 

Augsburg  in  April.  The  emperor  wfas  scheduled  to 
arrive  early  and  preside  in  person.  Luther's  associ- 
ates were  full  of  apprehension.  Luther  himself  felt 
less  alarm.  The  cause  of  the  Reformation  could  not 
now  be  disposed  of  by  a  few  burnings  and  banishings. 
Princes  were  ready  to  take  up  arms  in  its  behalf.  Vi- 
olent measures  against  it  would  bring  on  civil  war, 
and  no  king  or  government  willingly  brings  on  that. 
Luther  reasoned  thus,  and  the  sequel  showed  the  cor- 
rectness c5f  his  judgment.  Luther  of  course  did  not 
and  could  not  know  all  the  facts.  Charles  was  loyal 
to  Romanism,  but  he  believed  there  were  abuses  which 
should  be  corrected.  Lie  thought  that  the  best  way  to 
brings  this  about  was  to  summon  a  general  council. 
This  had  been  Luther's  urgent  request  at  the  begin- 
ning. But  popes  are  not  fond  of  general  councils. 
Tliese  bodies  had  not  always  been  favorable  to  the 
usurpations  of  the  popes.  Clement  had  good  reason  to 
look  with  disfavor  upon  such  a  gathering.  A  general 
council  might  raise  some  embarrassing  questions  as 
to  the  right  of  a  man  born  out  of  wedlock  to  be  pope. 
Clement  temporized.  He  suggested  to  Charles  that  a 
call  for  a  general  council  should  be  made  at  the  in- 
stance of  the  European  monarchs  in  concert.  Later 
he  persuaded  Francis  to  object,  and  used  the  objection 
against  both  Charles  and  the  council. 

The  Protestant  princes  were  not  unacquainted  with 
the  danger  which  imperiled  them  and  the  cause  they 
had  espoused.  At  one  time  active  preparations  were 
made  for  armed  resistance  in  case  this  became  neces- 
sary.   Luther,  however,  set  his  face  steadfastly  against 


250  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

all  this.  He  did  not  believe  in  such  a  means  of  de- 
fense. He  believed  that  Christians  should  stand  faith- 
fully by  their  convictions,  even  to  the  point  of  martyr- 
dom. There  had  been  no  time  in  many  years  now 
when  he  would  not  have  gone  to  the  stake  rather  than 
surrender  his  conscience.  But  he  did  not  think  that 
men  should  do  wrong  even  in  behalf  of  the  truth ;  and 
resistance  to  civil  authority  he  regarded  as  wrong. 
It  should  be  said  to  his  credit  that  had  he  counseled 
forcible  resistance  to  Rome  and  to  Charles,*  Germany 
would  have  been  the  scene  of  battle  and  bloodshed 
long  before  it  was.  He  had  no  respect  for  the  usurpa- 
tions of  the  papacy,  but  so  long  as  the  emperor  sus- 
tained and  supported  the  authority  of  Rome  the  ques- 
tion was  not  what  Rome  claimed  but  what  Charles 
commanded.  This  loyalty  to  duly  constituted  authority 
was  one  of  the  ever  controlling  convictions  of  his 
whole  life. 

Either  because  of  intimations  from  Charles  or  be- 
cause the  Protestant  members  of  the  diet  knew  that 
the  matter  would  reach  an  acute  stage  at  the  approach- 
ing session,  it  was  generally  understood  that  a  spe- 
cific statement  of  the  Protestant  contentions  should  be 
brought  forward  at  Augsburg.  Of  course  no  one  was 
so  well  qualified  to  prepare  this  statement  as  Martin 
Luther.  But  Martin  Luther  was  still  under  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  ban,  and  of  course  could  not  appear  be- 
fore the  emporer  and  the  diet.  It  would  not  even 
be  safe  for  him  to  appear  at  Augsburg.  His  counsel 
seemed  indispensable,  however,  and  the  Elector  John 
determined  to  have  him  as  near  the  seat  of  the  diet  as 


Coburg,  Diet  of  Augsburg,  and  Other  Events.  251 

would  be  at  all  safe,  so  that  he  might  be  reached  and 
counseled  with  in  the  emergency  that  all  realized  was 
approaching.  Luther  therefore  accompanied  the  elec- 
tor as  far  as  the  little  city  of  Coburg.  This  is  a  thrifty, 
picturesquely  located  town  in  Central  Germany,  stand- 
ing on  the  left  bank  of  the  Itz,  a  tributary  of  the  River 
Regen.  Some  old  buildings,  a  ducal  palace,  a  general 
air  of  cleanliness  and  industry,  and  historic  associa- 
tions running  back  many  centuries  give  the  city,  which 
has  even  yet  less  than  20,000  population,  an  abiding 
interest  to  travelers.  But  the  chief  attraction  to  vis- 
itors about  the  place  is  the  old  castle,  where,  during  the 
sitting  of  the  diet  at  Augsburg,  Martin  Luther  re- 
mained in  semiconcealment.  Luther  called  this  an 
abode  among  the  birds,  and  its  situation  warranted 
this  poetic  designation. 

This  old  castle  stands  on  a  hill  five  hundred  feet 
above  the  little  city  nestling  at  its  base.  In  recent 
times  the  old  building  has  been  used  partly  as  a  prison, 
but  the  room  where  Luther  slept  and  the  bed,  also 
several  apartments  that  he  used,  are  shown  to  travelers. 

Luther  came  to  this  interesting  old  castle  the  latter 
part  of  April,  and  spent  most  of  the  remainder  of  the 
year  here.  He  was  not  in  semicaptivity,  as  at  Wart- 
burg  ten  years  before.  His  wants  were  well  provided 
for.  There  was  much  work  to  be  done,  and  while  he 
chafed  under  the  seeming  necessity  of  staying  away 
from  the  diet  and  his  associates  in  the  Reformation 
at  this  time  of  crucial  importance,  and  was  pained  by 
his  separation  from  his  family,  yet  upon  the  whole  he 
seems  to  have  been   unusually  cheerful  and  hopeful. 


252  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

He  was  in  constant  communication  with  his  friends, 
and  his  letters  give  deHghtfiil  ghmpses  of  the  personal 
life  and  tastes  of  this  always  interesting  man  and  lead- 
er. The  crows  and  ravens  woke  him  every  mourning, 
and  he  wrote  to  his  friends  that  these  noisy  early  ris- 
ers were  holding  diets  and  general  councils.  They 
were  like  chattering  bishops  and  princes  and  dignitaries 
of  Church  and  State.  Surelv  no  father  ever  wrote  a 
sweeter  letter  to  a  child  than  this,  which  Luther  wrote 
to  little  Hans  from  his  castle  home : 

Grace  and  peace  in  Christ,  my  dear  little  son.  I  am  pleased 
to  see  that  thou  learnest  thy  lessons  well  and  prayest  diligent- 
ly.  Do  thus,  my  little  son,  and  persevere.  When  I  come  home, 
I  will  bring  thee  a  fine  "fairing."  I  know  of  a  pretty  garden 
where  merry  children  that  wear  little  golden  coats  run  about, 
and  gather  up  nice  apples  and  pears  and  cherries  and  phuns 
under  the  trees,  and  sing  and  dance  and  ride  on  pretty  horses 
with  gold  bridles  and  silver  saddles.  I  asked  the  man  of  the 
place  whose  the  garden  was  and  whose  the  children  were.  He 
said :  "These  are  the  children  who  pray  and  learn  and  are 
good."  Then  I  answered :  "Dear  sir,  I  also  have  a  son  called 
Hans  Luther.  May  he  not  also  come  into  this  garden  and  cat 
these  nice  pears  and  apples  and  ride  a  little  horse  and  play 
with  these  children  ?"  The  man  said :  "If  he  says  his  praj^ers 
and  learns  and  is  good,  he  too  may  come  into  the  garden ;  and 
Lippus  and  Jost  may  come,  and  when  they  all  come  back  they 
shall  have  pipes  and  drums  and  lutes  and  all  sorts  of  stringed 
instruments,  and  they  shall  dance  and  shoot  with  little  cross- 
bows." Then  he  showed  me  a  smooth  lawn  in  the  garden  laid 
out  for  dancing,  where  hung  pipes  of  pure  gold  and  drums  and 
beautiful  crossbows.  But  it  was  still  early,  and  the  children 
had  not  dined.  So  I  could  not  wait  for  the  dance,  and  said  to 
the  man :  "Dear  Sir,  I  will  go  straight  home  and  write  all  this 
to  my  dear  little  son  Hans,  that  he  may  pray  diligently  and 
learn  well  and  be  good,  and  so  come  into  this  garden;  but  he 


Coburg,  Diet  of  Augsburg,  and  Other  Events,  253 

has  an  Aunt  Lene  whom  he  must  bring  with  him."  And  the 
man  answered :  "So  shall  it  be ;  go  home  and  write  as  you 
say."  Therefore,  dear  little  son  Hans,  learn  and  pray  with 
good  heart,  and  tell  Lippus  and  Jost  to  do  the  same,  and  then 
you  will  all  come  to  the  beautiful  garden  together.  Al- 
mighty God  guard  you.  Give  my  love  to  Aunt  Lene,  and 
give  her  a  kiss  lor  me.    In  the  year  1530. 

Your  loving  father,  Martin  Luther. 

The  ''Aunt  Lene"  mentioned  in  this  letter  was  an 
inmate  of  Luther's  household,  to  whom  the  father  as 
well  as  the  son  was  much  attached.  Lippus  was  a  son 
of  Melanchthon,  and  Jost,  an  abbreviation  of  Jodocus, 
was  a  son  of  Justus  Jonas.  It  would  seem  from  these 
tender  references  to  these  children  that  the  friendship 
of  the  fathers  was  being  perpetuated  in  the  sons. 

This  letter  was  written  in  June,  when  the  mind  of 
Luther  was  deeply  absorbed  with  the  gravest  questions, 
and  when  the  Reformation  itself  was  passing  through 
one  of  the  greatest  crises  in  its  history.  This  fact 
shows  how  strong  Luther's  parental  and  domestic  at- 
tachments were,  and  discloses  a  side  of  his  nature  that 
is  always  attractive. 

Luther  called  his  castle  abode  (*'in  the  empire  of  the 
birds,"  as  he  expressed  it)  his  Mount  Sinai.  But 
he  said  that  he  would  make  a  Mount  Zion  out  of  it  and 
build  three  tabernacles — ''one  for  the  Psalms,  one  for 
the  prophets,  and  one  for  the  fables  of  ^sop."  This 
was  a  playful  reference  to  the  work  he  was  doing.  He 
had  not  yet  completed  his  translation  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  he  gave  his  strength  and  time  with  unre- 
served diligence  to  this  great  task,  urged  on  by  an  abid- 
ingf  conviction  not  onlv  of  the  uncertaintv  of  his  own  life 


254  ^  -^'7^  of  Martin  Luther. 

but  also  as  to  the  early  end  of  the  world.  In  one  of  his 
letters  he  complained  that  he  was  forced  by  ill  health 
to  take  much  of  the  summer  as  a  holiday;  but  the 
work  that  he  did  shows  little  time  spent  in  idleness. 
He  made  good  progress  in  his  translation  of  the  proph- 
ets and,  doubtless  as  a  sort  of  recreation,  turned  some 
of  ^sop's  fables  into  simple  German,  with  many  use- 
ful proverbs  as  morals.  He  admired  these  fables  great- 
ly, and  said  he  wished  his  people  to  get  the  benefit  of 
them.  He  was  ever  on  the  alert  for  opportunities  to 
help  his  "dear  Germans."  He  was  always  and  in  every- 
thing unselfishly  patriotic. 

There  were  some  thirty  inmates  in  the  castle,  and 
these  showed  Luther  all  needed  consideration.  But  his 
constant  and  cherished  companions  were  his  nephew, 
Ciriac  Kaufmann,  and  his  amanuensis,  Veit  Dietrich. 
The  latter,  who  was  from  Nuremberg,  ultimately  be- 
came a  most  useful  Protestant  preacher  in  his  native 
town.  As  already  stated,  Luther  worked  diligently  on 
his  several  undertakings,  kept  in  constant  touch  with 
his  friends  at  Augsburg,  wrote  regularly  to  his  Katie, 
and  declared  that  the  castle  was  the  very  place  for 
study.  He  worked  so  steadily  that  in  May  he  had  a 
return  of  his  old  head  trouble,  a  singing  in  his  ears, 
and  a  tendency  to  faint.  He  was  not  sure  whether  all 
this  was  the  result  of  his  good  fare  at  the  table  of  his 
hosts  or  the  work  of  the  devil.  Dietrich  thought  that 
this  last  was  the  real  cause,  as  he  said  Luther  was  un- 
usually careful  in  his  diet.  He  declares  that  one  night 
he  and  Luther  saw  a  fiery  apparition  that  looked  like 


Coburg,  Diet  of  Augsburg,  and  Other  Events,  255 

a  serpent,  and  that  afterwards  Luther  fainted  and  was 
very  sick  the  next  day,  too  sick  to  work. 

Luther  had  a  real  sorrow  in  the  early  summer.  On 
May  29  his  venerable  father  passed  away.  Luther 
heard  of  his  death  eight  days  later.  The  father  died 
in  the  full  assurance  of  faith  in  the  gospel  as  preached 
by  his  son.  When  the  son  had  read  the  letter  that 
brought  the  news  of  his  father's  death,  he  said  sor- 
rowfully to  Dietrich:  "And  he  too  is  gone."  Then, 
taking  his  Psalter,  he  retired  into  his  private  apartment, 
there  to  be  alone  for  a  season  with  his  sorrow  and  his 
God. 

In  the  preceding  February  he  had  learned  through  a 
letter  from  his  brother  that  his  father  was  seriously 
ill,  and  at  that  time  wrote  him  a  letter  that  breathed 
the  warmest  afifection.  *'It  would  be  a  great  joy  to 
me,"  he  wrote,  "if  only  you  and  my  mother  could 
come  to  us  here.  My  Kate  and  all  pray  for  it  with 
tears.  I  should  hope  we  would  do  our  best  to  make 
you  comfortable."  And  then  he  assures  him  of  his 
prayers  in  his  behalf  that  the  Divine  Father  might 
strengthen  and  enlighten  this  father  whom  he  had 
given  him  on  earth.  He  leaves  the  matter  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  God  as  to  whether  they  shall  meet  again 
on  earth  or  in  heaven.  "For,"  he  wrote,  "we  doubt 
not  but  that  wc  shall  shortly  see  each  other  again  in 
the  presence  of  Christ,  since  the  departure  from  this 
life  is  a  far  smaller  matter  with  God  than  if  I  were 
to  come  hither  from  you  at  Mansfeld  or  you  were  to 
go  to  Mansfeld  from  me  at  Wittenberg."  Thus  in  his 
inmost   soul   Luther   realized   the  comfort  of  a    faith 


256  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

in  a  future  state  which  knew  no  doubts  and  asked  no 
questions. 

In  a  letter  to  Melanchthon,  written  the  day  that  the 
intelHgence  of  the  good  old  man's  death  reached  him, 
he  said  that  all  he  was  and  all  he  had  he  owed,  through 
divine  grace,  to  his  father. 

Meantime  the  diet  was  slowly  gathering  in  Augs- 
burg. The  Protestant  princes  were  accompanied  by 
preachers,  and  these  preachers  spoke  unequivocally 
and  unhesitatingly  in  behalf  of  the  gospel.  ]\'Iichelet 
is  much  perplexed  by  the  fact  that  at  a  time  when 
Germany  was  threatened  by  the  Turks  under  the 
brave  Solyman  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  perils  of  civil 
war  brought  on  by  contending  religious  factions  on  the 
other  hand,  these  princes  and  theologians  should 
be  concerned  about  such  matters  as  transubstantiation 
and  free  will,  and  ascribes  it  all  to  the  "intrepid 
phlegm"  of  the  German  race.  But  these  same  Ger- 
mans were  men  of  uncompromising  conscience,  and 
the  matters  that  were  up  for  settlement  were  more 
vital  than  this  French  author  seems  to  think.  They 
were  much  given  to  prayer.  They  rested  their  cause 
and  their  defense  upon  the  Word  of  God,  and  their 
courageous  contention  for  the  truth  ultimately  brought 
freedom  to  themselves  and  to  all  their  descendants 
who  have  accepted  the  inheritance. 

Charles  was  slow  in  coming  to  Germany.  Reach- 
ing Innsbruck,  he  tarried  for  some  time.  Here  Duke 
George  and  other  Catholic  zealots  met  him  and  in- 
formed him  of  what  was  going  on  at  Augsburg. 
They    were    specially    bitter    against    the    Lutheran 


Coburg,  Diet  of  Augsburg,  and  Otlicr  Events.  257 

preachers,  and  insisted  that  Charles  should  command 
these  pestilent  fellows  to  cease  from  their  preaching. 
It  may  be  said,  without  adverting  to  the  matter  later, 
that  when  Charles  reached  Augsburg  he  yielded  to 
the  wishes  of  these  counselors  and  compromised  with 
the  Protestants  by  forbidding  the  Catholic  priests  to 
preach  anything  except  sermons  that  wxre  neither 
Catholic  nor  Protestant.  These  emasculated  sermons 
were  so  farcical  that  the  people  received  them  with 
ridicule. 

At  last,  on  the  15th  of  June,  two  months  after  the 
appointed  day,  Charles  entered  Augsburg  in  great 
state.  Protestant  and  Catholic  princes  did  him  honor. 
There  was  at  least  ceremonial  cordiality  in  his  wel- 
come. The  first  discordant  note  was  sounded  by  a 
high  Catholic  functionary  who  preached  the  opening 
sermon  of  the  diet.  In  this  he  denounced  "the  Ger- 
man heretics"  as  being  worse  than  the  Turks.  This 
violent  outburst  pleased  no  one  except  the  most  radi- 
cal Romanists. 

As  already  stated,  it  was  the  general  understanding 
that  a  Protestant  confession  of  faith  would  be  pre- 
sented to  the  diet.  In  convoking  the  body  the  im- 
perial decree  had  announced  that  one  of  its  purposes 
was  to  find  out  *'how  best  to  deal  with  the  differences 
and  divisions  in  the  holy  faith  and  the  Christian  re- 
ligion." It  was  declared  that  "every  man's  thoughts 
and  opinions  should  be  heard  in  love  and  charity  and 
be  carefully  weighed,  and  that  men  should  thus  be 
brought  in  common  to  Christian  truth  and  thus  be 
reconciled." 
17 


258  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

All  this  sounded  fair  enough,  and  the  Protestants 
hoped  that  it  might  mean  all  that  seemed  to  be  im- 
plied. Luther,  always  ready  to  honor  Charles,  was 
quite  disposed  to  accept  this  proclamation  as  an  omen 
of  peace  and  an  assurance  that  the  Protestants  would 
be  shown  toleration.  The  attitude  of  Charles  became 
altogether  apparent  before  the  diet  had  finished  its 
work.  The  reconcilation  spoken  of  simply  meant  that 
the  Protestants  should  submit  to  Rome  and  the  em- 
peror in  the  matter  of  faith. 

The  Protestants  proceeded  to  prepare  their  state- 
ment of  doctrines.  The  year  before,  at  the  Elector 
John's  request,  Luther  had  prepared  a  statement  based 
on  the  Marburg  agreement,  but  putting  more  stress 
on  the  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist  as  Luther  understood 
that  sacrament.  These  articles,  some  seventeen  in 
number,  were  submitted  to  the  Protestant  princes  at 
Schmalkalden,  and  were  generally  indorsed  by  them. 
These  same  articles,  revised  and  modified,  were  pre- 
sented to  the  diet  at  Augsburg,  and  constitute  the 
nucleus  of  all  Protestant  creeds  from  that  day  till  this. 

The  task  of  giving  these  articles  their  final  cast 
devolved  upon  Melanchthon.  This  associate  of  Lu- 
ther was  timid  and  peace-loving.  He  was  prepared 
to  make  every  possible  concession  to  the  Catholics. 
He  sought  earnestly  to  effect  a  compromise.  He  went 
so  far  as  to  assure  the  Romanists  that  there  were 
really  very  few  differences  between  them  and  the 
Protestants.  Lie  sought  the  favor  of  the  papal  legate, 
and  fawned  and  cringed  before  the  dignitary.  He 
seems  to  have  had  little  hope  of  peace  in  separation 


Cohurg,  Diet  of  Augsburg,  and  Other  Events.  259 

from  Rome,  so  he  undertook  the  forlorn  hope  of  bring- 
ing papists  and  Protestants  together.  Luther  warned 
him  of  the  utter  impossibiHty  of  all  this.  'The  pope 
will  not  consent,  and  Luther  refuses."  This  state- 
ment for  the  emperor  and  the  diet  was  submitted  to  Lu- 
ther, and  approved  by  him.  It  was  milder,  he  said,  than 
he  would  have  made  it,  but  possibly  this  was  better. 

When  the  statement  was  ready,  Charles  was  unwill- 
ing for  it  to  be  published.  He  wished  to  consider  it 
privately.  This  proposition,  of  course,  came  at  the 
instance  of  his  Catholic  advisers.  After  the  reading 
of  the  confession  before  the  diet,  one  of  the  high 
dignitaries  of  the  Church  asked  the  redoubtable  Dr. 
Eck  if  the  Catholic  doctrine  could  not  be  upheld  by  the 
Scripture.  "No,"  admitted  this  old  opponent  of  Lu- 
ther; "but  by  the  Fathers."  Since  the  Protestants 
relied  on  the  Scriptures  to  prove  their  faith,  it  is  easy 
to  see  why  the  Romanists  were  not  willing  that  they 
should  come  before  the  diet  with  their  statement.  But 
the  Protestant  princes  knew  quite  well  what  this  pri- 
vate handling  of  the  matter  by  the  emperor  would 
mean,  and  declined  to  have  it  disposed  of  in  this  sum- 
mary way.  Charles,  who  never  liked  German,  asked 
that  the  statement  be  read  in  Latin.  This  meant 
that  only  a  few  of  the  princes  would  have  under- 
stood it,  so  the  Protestant  members  of  the  diet  in- 
sisted that  it  should  be  read  in  German.  Charles  re- 
luctantly consented  to  this,  and  a  copy  in  Latin  and 
one  in  German  were  placed  in  his  hands. 

The  Protestant  statement  was  read  to  the  diet  on 
June  25.     Bayer,  the  chancellor  of  the  Elector  John, 


26o  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

read  it.  Its  reading  occupied  two  hours,  and  those 
were  historic  hours  in  the  annals  of  Protestantism. 
Nine  years  before  this  Martin  Luther  had  stood  alone 
before  this  great  body  of  German  princes  and  Church 
dignitaries,  and  had  gone  forth  with  the  imperial  ban 
upon  him  for  daring  to  call  in  question  the  authority 
of  the  pope  over  the  consciences  of  men.  Now  these 
principles  for  which  Martin  Luther  had  stood  bravely 
and  alone  were  espoused  by  some  of  the  strongest 
men  and  most  powerful  princes  in  the  diet ;  and  while 
Rome  was  as  ready  as  she  had  ever  been — possibly 
readier  than  before — to  condemn  these  contentions, 
she  found  her  power  gone,  and  she  was  forced  to  lis- 
ten to  what  she  would  have  gladly  committed  to  the 
flames,  and  to  show  consideration  to  men  she  would 
willingly  have  bound  to  the  stake.  And  Luther, 
though  absent,  shared  in  the  joy  of  this  memorable 
occasion. 

Charles  was  but  little  impressed  by  the  statement. 
It  is  even  recorded  that  he  fell  asleep  during  the  read- 
ing. But  others  were  impressed,  and  some  of  the 
most  influential  members  of  the  body,  who  had  not 
embraced  the  principles  of  Luther  up  to  this  time, 
afterwards  became  openly  Protestant.  The  confession 
was  afterwards  published  in  all  Western  Europe. 
And  like  a  blast  of  wind  in  March,  it  helped  to  fan 
into  a  flame  the  kindling  fires  of  the  Reformation 
wherever  it  was  published. 

Weeks  of  anxious  negotiations  followed  the  read- 
ing of  the  confession.  Charles  instructed  the  Catholic 
theologians  to  prepare  an  answer  to  it.     This,  when 


Coburg,  Diet  of  Augsburg,  and  Other  Events.  261 

it  was  brought  in,  proved  to  be  nothing  more  than  a 
repetition  of  Romish  assumptions  and  pretensions. 
Charles  sought  to  exercise  arbitrary  power  in  the 
case,  and  commanded  the  diet  to  accept  as  final  this 
Catholic  statement  and  defense.  The  fiery  Prince  of 
Hesse  immediately  withdrew  from  the  assembly. 
Other  efforts  at  a  compromise  failed,  as  was  inevita- 
ble. As  peace-loving  as  was  Melanchthon,  he  would 
not  concede  the  vital  tenets  of  his  and  his  associates'- 
faith.  A  committee,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  failed 
utterly  to  efifect  a  settlement  of  the  matters  in  dis- 
pute. No  settlement  was  possible  that  did  not  involve 
a  full  surrender  of  all  the  Protestant  contentions,  and 
this,  of  course,  was  impossible.  Charles  found  the 
Catholic  princes  loyal  enough  to  Rome,  but  not  pre- 
pared or  willing  to  take  up  arms  against  their  Prot- 
estant neighbors.  The  emperor  therefore  must  recede 
entirely  from  his  position,  concede  something  to  his 
Protestant  subjects,  or  force  them  into  submission  by 
a  war  for  which  he  was  not  prepared.  He  met  the 
situation  by  the  only  course  that  was  really  open  to 
him  under  these  embarrassing  circumstances.  He  ad- 
journed the  diet  and  allowed  the  status  quo  to  remain. 
He  issued  an  edict  giving  the  Protestants  a  year  in 
which  to  accept  the  Catholic  statement.  In  the  mean- 
time he  promised  to  use  his  influence  to  secure  the 
calling  of  a  general  council  to  adjust  all  questions  in 
dispute. 

This  result  was  no  surprise  to  Luther.  True,  feel- 
ing a  loyalty  to  Charles  that  was  more  sincere  than  that 
of  those  who  simply  wished  to  use  the  imperial  power 


262  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

to  bolster  the  cause  of  Rome,  he  had  expected  better 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  emperor  when  Charles 
called  the  diet;  but  it  was  not  long  before  he  dis- 
covered that  Charles  was  completely  under  the  domi- 
nance of  Rome.  He  had  kept  in  constant  touch  with 
the  deliberations  at  Augsburg,  and  had  reenforced  the 
wavering  courage  of  Melanchthon  with  letters  that 
breathed  the  spirit  of  devotion  to  the  great  cause. 
But  he  did  not  depend  upon  human  means  to  accom- 
plish the  victory  of  the  cause  and  the  safety  of  his 
friends.  He  had  constant  recourse  to  prayer.  He 
said  he  would  pray  until  he  knew  that  his  prayers 
were  heard  in  heaven.  He  gave  three  hours  a  day  to 
prayer,  and  urged  his  friends  to  do  the  same.  Those 
who  believe  in  the  worth  of  prayer  at  all  cannot  doubt 
the  efficacy  of  these  mighty  intercessions  in  behalf  of 
the  Reformation  by  this  man  of  God.  In  aftertimes 
he  spoke  of  this  period  in  his  own  history  and  the 
history  of  the  Reformation,  and  expressed  a  firm  con- 
viction that  the  deliverance  wrought  at  Augsburg  was 
an  answer  to  prayer. 

How  real  Luther's  faith  was  and  how  intimately  he 
knew  God  as  his  Father  this  little  incident  discloses. 
One  day  Dietrich  heard  him  praying  aloud,  and  this 
was  a  part  of  his  prayer:  **I  know  that  thou  art  our 
Father  and  our  God.  .  .  .  The  danger  is  thine  as 
well  as  ours ;  the  whole  cause  is  thine ;  we  have  put  our 
hands  to  it  because  we  were  obliged  to.  Do  thou  pro- 
tect it."  He  wrote  home  to  his  wife:  "Pray  thou  with 
confidence,  for  all  is  well  arranged  and  God  will  protect 
us." 


Coheir g.  Diet  of  Augsburg,  and  Other  Events.  263 

Luther  returned  to  Wittenberg  early  in  October. 
On  his  way  from  Augsburg  the  Elector  John  had 
brought  him  a  ring  with  the  Protestant  coat  of  arms. 
This,  which  Luther  had  adopted  as  his  own  in  lieu  of 
the  family  coat  of  arms  already  mentioned,  was  a 
rose  with  a  heart  in  it,  and  in  the  heart  a  cross.  This 
symbol  speaks  its  own  lessons.  It  tells  of  the  moral 
beauty,  sincerity,  and  self-sacrifice  of  the  men  who 
stood  for  what  was  destined  to  bless  all  the  world 
through  all  the  succeeding  centuries  to  the  coming  of 
the  Lord  of  the  Church  and  of  the  world. 

No  one  went  away  from  the  Diet  of  Augsburg  with 
a  sadder  heart  than  the  emperor  himself.  In  bidding 
farewell  to  his  kinsman,  the  Elector  John,  he  said 
sadly :  "O,  uncle,  uncle !  I  expected  better  things  of 
you !''  The  elector  made  no  reply  except  the  tears 
that  came  to  his  eyes. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Luther  and  the  Further  Progress  of  the  Refor- 
mation. 

Martin  Luther  was  now  forty-seven  years  old, 
and  he  was  the  best-known  man  in  all  Europe. 
Princes,  the  pope,  and  even  the  emperor  himself  did 
not  possess  such  fame.  This  peasant  had  become  the 
friend  and  adviser  of  kings,  the  counselor  of  princes, 
and  the  untitled  bishop  of  the  Protestant  Church.  He 
never  sought  official  preferment  for  himself,  and  to 
the  day  of  his  death  he  remained  simply  a  professor 
at  Wittenberg  and  the  pastor  of  the  people  there. 

The  great  Reformation  was  constantly  widening  in 
its  sweep.  It  was  no  longer  a  religious  movement.  It 
was  now  a  great  political  movement  as  well.  This 
was  inevitable.  The  methods  of  Rome's  propaganda 
made  it  so.  Except  when  forced  to  do  so,  Rome  has 
never  sought  to  save  men  by  making  converts  of  sin- 
gle individuals.  She  has  preferred  what  she  has  re- 
garded as  the  more  effective  way  of  bringing  whole 
nations  into  the  Church.  To  do  this  she  has  first  se- 
cured the  adhesion  of  temporal  rulers,  and  through 
them  brought  the  power  of  the  State  to  bear  upon  in- 
dividuals. With  the  prestige  of  centuries  of  power, 
her  pretensions,  which  were  only  ostensibly  spiritual, 
have  been  boundless.  She  has  gone,  invited  or  unin- 
vited, into  the  palaces  of  kings.  She  hrs  seated  her- 
self bv  the  side  of  judges  on  the  bench.     She  has  ven- 

'  (264) 


Luther  and  the  Progress  of  the  Reformation.    265 

tured  into  the  chambers  of  assembhes.  She  has 
found  her  way  into  the  headquarters  of  generals. 
She  has  sat  as  one  bidden  at  the  tables  of  the 
nobleman  and  the  rich.  She  has  marched  with  soldiers 
under  every  banner  of  every  nation  of  Western  Eu- 
rope. She  has  sat  supreme  in  the  sanctuary.  Through 
the  confessional  she  has  entered  the  inner  lives  of  men 
and  women.  She  has  stood  by  the  dying,  and  dared  to 
dictate  the  fate  of  the  dead.  And  everywhere  she  has 
gone  she  has  had  but  one  object  in  view — the  ex- 
tension and  maintenance  of  the  power  of  the  papacy. 
Her  very  methods  were  at  last  the  means  of  her  undo- 
ing in  many  nations  in  Europe  and  the  gradual  down- 
fall of  a  power  that  was  never  righteously  her  own. 
Seeking  to  dominate  the  State,  the  State  finally  re- 
sisted her  aggressions,  and  this  resistance  gave  added 
strength  to  the  great  Reformation.  The  first  political 
effect  of  the  Reformation  was  to  change  the  order  of 
things  existing  before  the  times  of  Martin  Luther. 
Formerly  the  Church  had  dominated  the  State ;  after- 
wards the  State  dominated  the  Church.  This  came 
about  by  a  sort  of  reversionary  right,  and  it  was  in- 
evitable, if  not  best.  Possibly  anything  was  better  than 
the  possession  of  political  and  spiritual  power  by  an 
ecclesiastic  seated  in  Rome  who  claimed  everything 
in  heaven  and  earth  as  ex  officio  his  own. 

To  write  the  history  of  the  Reformation  from  this 
time  forward,  during  the  life  of  Martin  Luther,  would 
be  to  write  the  political  and  ecclesiastical  history  of 
Germany,  as  well  as  much  of  the  history  of  the  neigh- 
boring nations.     Luther  was  not  less  a  part  of  the 


2^6  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

great  movement,  except  as  the  movement  had  become 
greater.  He  was  no  longer  a  vidette  and  a  picket; 
a  great  army  had  advanced  to  his  support. 

In  tracing  the  Hfe  of  Luther  from  this  time  it  is  not 
necessary  to  go  into  details  as  has  been  done  up  to 
this  time  in  this  study.  A  rapid  survey  of  the  leading 
facts  will  suffice. 

The  adjournment  of  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  as  has 
already  been  noted,  left  the  status  quo  remaining. 
But  this  state  of  things  could  not  continue  indefinitely. 
Charles  had  allowed  the  Protestants  a  year  in  which 
to  recant  and  accept  the  counter  statement  issued  by 
the  Catholic  theologians  at  Augsburg.  This  imperial 
edict  might  mean  war  if  resisted,  and  would  no  doubt 
mean  war  if  Charles  could  once  be  free  to  carry  out  the 
wishes  of  the  pope  and  at  the  same  time  vindicate  his 
power.  To  meet  this  emergency  the  Protestant 
princes  resolved  on  preparations  for  armed  resistance. 
Luther  no  longer  opposed  this  course.  He  came  to 
recognize  the  principle  that  when  rulers  exercise  un- 
warranted power  their  subjects  can  lawfully  resist  them. 
In  the  early  part  of  1531  the  Protestant  princes  met  at 
the  little  town  of  Schmalkalden  and  organized  the 
famous  "Schmalkalden  Alliance."  Nine  Protestant 
States  and  eleven  free  cities  entered  into  this  alliance. 
The  agreement  involved  mutual  protection  in  the  en- 
joyment of  religious  freedom,  and  loyalty  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Rieformation.  Later,  five  other  States 
and  ten  more  cities  entered  the  alliance.  The  League, 
for  such  it  was  called,  was  to  last  nine  years.  After- 
wards it  was  renewed,  and  for  many  years  it  was  a 


Luther  and  the  Progress  of  the  Reformation.    267 

powerful  factor  in  the  preservation  of  Protestantism 
in  Germany.  France  and  Eng^land  courted  its  favor, 
and  offered  it  cooperation  because  it  curtailed  the 
power  of  Charles.  This  historic  Schmalkalden  League 
was  finally  consummated  on  February  27,  1531. 

The  diet  met  the  next  year  at  Nuremberg.  The 
Protestant  faction  had  prown  so  strong  that  the  Cath- 
olic princes  and  Charles  himself  were  forced  to  recog- 
nize and  reckon  with  them.  A  peace  was  concluded 
which  lasted  for  many  years.  This  was  little  more 
than  a  modus  vivendi.  All  that  the  Protestants 
wished  was  not  granted,  but  liberty  of  conscience  and 
of  worship  was  granted  them.  In  fact,  the  status  quo 
was  virtually  continued.  This  agreement  has  been 
called  a  peace.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  it  was 
little  more  than  a  truce  between  two  parties  who  could 
not  be  at  permanent  peace.  Many  times  during  the 
succeeding  years  there  were  rumors  of  a  disturbing 
sort,  and  more  than  once  the  storm  that  had  threat- 
ened for  so  long  to  break  over  Germany  seemed 
ready  to  burst.  But  throughout  the  rest  of  Luther's 
life  there  was  at  least  outward  peace.  He  was  hardly 
in  his  grave,  however,  before  the  long  threatened  war 
broke  out  between  the  imperial  forces  and  the  Schmal- 
kalden League. 

But  there  were  troubles  enough.  It  was  only  in  ac- 
(.ordance  with  human  nature  that  in  a  time  like  this 
men  should  not  merely  break  away  from  the  old  land- 
marks of  belief,  but  that  they  should  go  far  beyond  the 
bounds  of  reason.  This  tendency  has  already  been 
noted  in  connection  with  the  war  of  the  peasants.     It 


^68  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

was  to  find  another  illustration  about  this  time  in  the 
outbreak  of  the  Anabaptists  at  Miinster.  The  fanat- 
ical leaders  of  the  movement  contended  for  many  of 
the  things  for  which  the  peasants  had  fought  ten 
years  before  this.  Their  motto  was,  ''Repent!"  but 
their  practice  seemed  to  indicate  that  they  believed 
more  in  rapine.  They  carried  things  with  a  high  hand 
at  Miinster.  They  drove  out  the  town  council  because 
that  body  was  not  willing  to  put  all  their  demands  into 
force.  They  pillaged  Catholic  churches  and  establish- 
ments. They  said  that  there  were  two  enemies  of 
Jesus  in  the  world — Luther  and  the  pope — and  that 
Luther  was  the  worse  of  the  two.  They  became  so 
violent  that  at  last  Protestants  and  Romanists  were 
constrained  to  unite  in  suppressing  them. 

This  bloody  episode  of  the  great  Reformation  was 
a  matter  of  deep  regret  to  Luther.  Some  of  the  lead- 
ers in  the  movement  had  been  followers  of  Luther,  and 
of  course  his  opponents  were  all  too  ready  to  charge 
him  with  responsibility  for  all  this  fanaticism. 

Another  matter  terminated  more  peaceably  and  sat- 
isfactorily. The  Protestants  of  the  South  German 
States  were  disposed  to  accept  tlie  views  of  the  Eucha- 
rist held  by  Zwingli,  but  they  were  exceedingly 
anxious  to  reach  an  agreement  with  Luther.  In  this 
effort  one  of  the  most  interesting  men  of  this  period 
was  leader.  This  was  Martin  Bucer.  Bucer  was 
eight  years  younger  than  Luther,  and  was  a  native 
of  a  town  in  Alsace.  At  fourteen  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Dominican  order.  Afterwards,  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  his  superior,  he  went  to  Heidelberg  to  study 


Luther  and  the  Progress  of  the  Reformation.    269 

theology.  His  real  name  was  "Cowhorn,"  but  this 
did  not  suit  his  scholarly  tastes,  and  he  called  himself 
by  a  name  which  is  derived  from  two  Greek  words, 
the  combination  being  supposed  to  represent  the  Ger- 
man original.  At  Leipsic  he  heard  the  discussion  be- 
tween Luther  and  Eck,  and  was  so  impressed  with  Lu- 
ther's views  that  he  became  a  Protestant.  lie  became 
a  leader  of  the  theological  school  of  his  part  of  Ger- 
many, and  was  among  the  number  who  attended  the 
diet  at  Augsburg  in  1530.  But  he  declined  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  confession  of  faith  drawn  up  there,  and 
afterwards  drew  up  what  was  called  the  "Tetrapolitan 
Confession."  He  was  much  inclined  to  a  pacification 
with  Luther,  and  in  company  with  some  of  his  fellow- 
theologians  he  waited  on  Luther  in  Wittenberg.  After 
much  and  anxious  consultation  a  statement  was  drawn 
up  which,  while  it  did  not  fully  accord  with  the  views 
of  either  party,  was  nevertheless  subscribed  to  by 
lioth  amid  much  joy.  Bucer  continued  the  steadfast 
friend  of  Luther  and  the  Reformation.  In  1549  mat- 
ters in  Germany  not  going  quite  to  his  notion,  he  ac- 
cepted an  invitation  from  Archbishop  Cranmer  to 
come  to  England  and  enter  Cambridge  University  as 
a  professor.  He  continued  here  only  a  few  years, 
when  death  overtook  him.  He  received  honorable  bur- 
ial in  the  land  of  his  adoption,  where  he  had  won  many 
friends.  Later,  when  Bloody  Mary  came  to  the  throne 
of  England,  at  her  instance,  inspired,  of  course,  by 
her  Catholic  counselors,  she  had  the  bones  of  the  old 
German  reformer  and  professor  dug  up  and  burned  in 
the  market  place. 


270  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

Union  of  Church  and  State  has  never  been  best  for 
Church  or  State.  A  low  moral  standard  and  policies 
of  government  that  were  not  for  the  highest  interests 
of  the  citizen  have  generally  resulted  from  this  union. 
When  profligate  kings  are  the  head  of  the  Church, 
and  set  the  pace  in  morals  for  a  whole  nation,  as  has 
too  often  happened,  it  would  be  a  marvel  if  the  people 
themselves  were  not  corrupt.  The  union  of  Church 
and  State,  which  was  one  of  the  heirlooms  of  Roman- 
ism in  Germany  and  elsewhere  in  Europe,  was  one  of 
the  earliest  perils  of  Protestantism.  Nothing  but  an 
overruling  providence  could  have  saved  from  utter  ruin 
any  moral  and  religious  movement  for  which  the 
lecherous  Henry  VIII.  stood  sponsor.  This  English 
monarch,  after  having  denounced  Luther,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  afterwards  applied  to  him  for  indorse- 
ment of  his  proposed  divorce  from  Catharine  of  Ara- 
gon.  Luther  and  the  other  Wittenberg  doctors  dis- 
approved this  unjustifiable  separation;  but  of  course 
their  opinion  had  little  weight  with  a  man  who  had 
already  made  up  his  mind  to  rid  himself  of  one  wife 
that  he  might  take  another  one.  But  a  more  em- 
barrassing situation  developed  nearer  home.  Philip  of 
Hesse  was  an  ardent  friend  of  the  Reformation.  His 
courage  and  impetuous  daring  made  him  the  dread  of 
the  Romanists  and  the  terror  of  all  opponents  of  the 
Protestant  movement.  His  departure  from  Augs- 
burg, when  Charles  had  demanded  submission  from 
the  Lutherans,  changed  the  whole  situation  there.  If 
war  should  finally  come  between  the  Protestants  and 
the  Catholics,  no  prince  would  be  more  needed  than 


Luther  and  the  Progress  of  the  Reformation.    271 

Philip.  But  Philip  confessed  to  Luther  that  he  was 
not  satisfied  with  the  wife  that  was  lawfully  his,  and 
asked  if  he  might  take  another,  as  Abraham  had  done. 
Philip  did  not  ask  for  permission  to  do  this,  but  really 
announced  his  purpose  to  do  so  any  way,  and  it  would 
seem  simply  sought  Luther's  approval  as  a  sort  of 
salve  to  his  conscience.  We  may  be  certain  that  the 
question  greatly  embarrassed  Luther.  PI  is  answer 
made  a  virtue  of  necessity.  He  advised  Philip  that  if 
he  did  take  another  wife,  he  should  do  so  privately. 
This  affair  has  brought  reproach  upon  Luther,  his 
enemies  charging  him  with  the  approval,  if  not  the 
advocacy,  of  polygamy.  Only  this  much  may  be  truth- 
fully admitted  in  this  matter.  Luther  took  the  Bible 
as  the  standard  of  his  faith.  The  Old  Testament  has 
often  been  construed  into  favoring  polygamous  mar- 
riages. In  his  early  ministry  Luther  was  inclined  to 
accept  this  view  in  justification  of  such  marriages  in 
exceptional  cases.  Later,  when  he  became  a  husband 
himself  and  entered  more  fully  into  the  spirit  of  the 
New  Testament,  he  did  not  accept  this  view  as  un- 
qualifiedly as  he  did  at  first.  Rome  had  invested  mar- 
riage with  all  the  sanctity  of  a  sacrament,  at  least  in 
theory ;  but  this  teaching  had  not  and  has  never  saved 
Catholic  profligacy.  Luther  utterly  rejected  this  doc- 
trine concerning  marriage.  He  believed  in  the  Bible, 
hence  his  ideas  were  not  fully  clarified  as  to  Christian 
marriage. 

Charles  V.  really  desired  a  reconciliation  between  his 
German  subjects.  His  every  interest  as  emperor  made 
this  important,  if  not  essential.     All  of  his  efforts  in 


2.^2  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

this  matter,  however,  had  the  discount  of  one  weak- 
ness. He  hoped  to  bring  about  a  reconcilation  of  the 
Protestants  with  Rome.  He  believed  that  this  could 
be  effected  by  mutual  concessions.  As  we  have  already 
seen,  this  was  his  effort  at  Augsburg.  The  utter  fail- 
ure there  did  not  discourage  him.  Too  much  was  in- 
volved for  the  matter  to  be  given  up  yet.  A  new  pope 
Paul  HI.,  had  succeeded  Clement.  This  pontiff 
showed  a  more  pacific  spirit  than  any  of  his  immedi- 
ate predecessors.  He  gathered  about  his  court  some 
of  the  ablest  and  most  conservative  men  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  His  most  trusted  adviser  was  the 
noble  Venetian,  Contarini.  This  cardinal  held  views 
that  were  little  less  advanced  than  those  of  Martin 
Luther  himself.  He  accepted  the  doctrine  of  justifi- 
cation by  faith  alone.  He  admitted  that  the  Church 
had  been  in  a  sort  of  Babylonian  captivity,  as  Luther 
had  claimed.  He  was  disposed  to  treat  the  Protest- 
ants with  high  consideration.  He  favored  the  calling 
of  a  general  council  and,  what  was  more  wonderful 
still,  advocated  the  policy  of  inviting  the  Lutherans  to 
take  part  in  this  council.  This  was  Charles's  proposed 
method,  and  had  been  his  plan  for  some  time.  And 
Paul  gave  it  a  semiapproval.  Negotiations  were  held 
with  the  Protestants  looking  to  this  proposed  council. 
A  high  papal  emissary  waited  on  Martin  Luther  in  the 
interest  of  this  effort.  This  was  a  different  attitude 
from  that  which  Rome  bad  hitherto  maintained  toward 
this  arch  heretic.  Luther  showed  scant  courtesy  to 
the  papal  messenger.  He  told  that  distingm'shed  per- 
sonage that  if  a  general  council  should  be   held,  it 


Luther  and  the  Progress  of  the  Reformation.    273 

would  spend  its  time  in  discussing  how  monks'  cowls 
should  be  worn,  and  other  such  trifles.  The  papal  rep- 
resentative admitted  that  Luther  '1iad  struck  the  right 
nail  on  the  head." 

The  name  of  this  papal  nuncio  was  Vergerius.  He 
did  not  persuade  Luther  to  accede  to  the  wishes  of  the 
emperor,  and  ostensibly  of  the  pope ;  but  his  contact 
Avith  the  Protestants  resulted  in  his  own  acceptance  of 
the  principles  of  Protestantism. 

Luther  attended  a  meeting  of  the  Schmalkaldic  Al- 
liance, which  met  to  discuss  the  advisability  of  at- 
tending the  proposed  council.  He  advised  the  mem- 
bers of  the  League  to  accept  the  proffered  invitation. 
But  he  fell  dangerously  sick  before  the  matter  was  dis- 
posed of,  and  his  advice  was  not  taken  in  the  premises. 

The  last  effort  made  in  Germany  to  effect  a  recon- 
ciliation between  the  Protestants  and  the  Catholics 
was  at  a  diet  held  at  Ratisbon  in  1541.  Distinguished 
representatives  of  Catholicism  and  of  Lutheranism 
were  in  attendance  at  the  instance  of  the  emperor. 
Bucer  and  Melanchthon  were  present  as  representa- 
tives of  Protestantism,  and  the  liberal  and  cultured 
Contarini  and  other  distinguished  Romanists  were 
present.  It  was  a  notable  body  of  notable  men,  actu- 
ated by  a  laudable  desire  for  peace.  Some  statements 
touching  fundamentals  were  agreed  upon,  and  the 
leaders  were  fain  to  believe  that  a  reconciliation  would 
be  reached.  But  the  effort  came  to  naught.  The  pope 
disapproved  of  the  concessions  Contarini  had  granted 
the  Protestants,  and  that  ecclesiastic  was  received  very 
coldly  on  his  return  to  Rome.  The  Catholics  of  Ger- 
18 


274  -"^  -^^/^  ^f  Martin  Luther. 

many  were  equally  displeased  with  the  terms  of  the 
proposed  reconciliation. 

While  there  were  hindrances,  the  Reformation  went 
forward  steadily.  The  Protestants  themselves  were 
not  fully  in  accord  as  to  doctrines.  Luther's  strenuous 
devotion  to  his  doctrine  of  the  real  presence  in  the 
Eucharist  involved  him  and  his  fellow-reformers  in 
more  than  one  controversy.  He  was  peculiarly  sensi- 
tive as  to  this  doctrine.  In  nothing  else  was  he  more 
dogmatic  and  less  tolerant.  The  Protestanism  of  the 
twentieth  century  may  be  disposed  to  look  upon  this 
view  of  the  sacrament  as  smacking  strongly  of  Catholi- 
cism, but  Luther  himself  did  not  so  regard  the  matter. 
To  him  his  belief  was  a  vital  part  of  his  own  faith  and 
of  the  true  faith  of  the  Church.  At  one  time  there 
seemed  a  probability  of  a  breach  between  Melanchthon 
and  himself  because  of  what  seems  to  have  been  a 
modification  of  Melanchthon's  views  touching  this  doc- 
trine. It  may  be,  however,  that  Melanchthon's  love  of 
peace  was  stronger  than  his  sense  of  the  importance 
of  Luther's  teaching  as  to  the  doctrine  of  transub- 
stantiation. 

Duke  George,  with  whom  Luther  had  many  a  tilt, 
died  at  last,  and  was  succeeded  in  his  duchy  by  his 
brother  Henry.  Henry  was  a  Protestant,  and  forth- 
with added  his  territory  to  the  Protestant  portion  of 
Germany,  and  thus  materially  strengthened  the  polit- 
ical power  of  the  Reformation.  Later  Henry  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son,  Maurice,  who  figured  quite  con- 
spicuously, if  not  always  usefully,  in  the  after  history 
of  Protestantism. 


Luther  and  the  Progress  of  the  Reformation.    275 

Luther  had  his  trials  and  griefs  as  well  as  his  suc- 
cesses. His  special  friend,  Agricola,  adopted  anti- 
nomian  ideas  and  proclaimed  his  views  in  the  pulpit  at 
Wittenberg.  Luther  rebuked  him,  and  he  promised 
amendment.  But  his  convictions  or  his  prejudices 
were  stronger  than  his  sense  of  obligation  in  connec- 
tion with  this  promise,  and  he  offended  again  and 
again.  At  last  an  invitation  to  go  to  Prussia  to  take 
an  important  position  in  the  newly  established  Prot- 
estant Church  in  that  part  of  Germany  rid  Luther  of 
this  very  troublesome  individual. 

The  form  of  government  the  new  Church  should 
adopt  was  a  matter  that  necessarily  came  up  for  settle- 
ment early  in  the  Reformation.  The  Protestants  were 
not  likely  to  accept  anything  that  savored  of  popery. 
Luther  rejected  altogether  the  doctrine  of  apostolic 
succession.  He  would  have  no  ordination  to  the  office 
of  bishop  that  came  by  way  of  the  popes.  A  bishopric 
became  vacant.  John  Frederick,  who  had  succeeded 
his  father,  the  worthy  John,  in  the  electorate  of  Sax- 
ony, chose  Luther's  associate  in  the  Reformation,  Ams- 
dorf,  and  Luther  himself  ordained  that  ecclesiastic  to 
the  office  of  the  first  Protestant  bishop  in  Germany. 
He  was  assisted  in  the  service  by  several  other  preach- 
ers, and  he  asked  the  people  to  give  their  assent  to  the 
selection  by  saying  "Amen,"  which  the  congregation 
did  very  heartily. 

V  Even  the  last  years  of  Luther's  life  were  not  free 
from  controversy.  The  faithful  watchman  upon  the 
towers  of  Zion  allowed  no  enemy  to  approach  una- 
wares.   As  usual,  he  was  bitter  against  the  pope.    His 


276  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

antipathy  to  the  occupant  of  the  papal  see  grew  strong- 
er with  his  advancing  years.  His  hatred  of  the  papacy 
even  entered  into  his  prayers.  He  said  that  instead  of 
the  pope  being  the  holy  father  he  was  the  "hellish  fa- 
ther." If  this  language  seems  severe,  we  must  re- 
member, as  Froude  says,  that  ^'Luther  saw  the  wolf 
without  any  sheep's  clothing." 

For  more  than  twenty  years  (ever  since  the  days  of 
the  indulgences)  Luther  had  a  controversy,  active  or 
in  a  state  of  temporary  suspension,  with  Archbishop 
Albert.  That  ecclesiastic  had  certainly  not  lived  a  life 
that  was  above  reproach.  At  last  he  added  to  his 
many  other  immoralities  the  murder,  under  the  pre- 
tense of  law,  of  a  trusted  financial  agent,  to  hide  from 
his  constituents  the  base  uses  to  which  he  had  put  the 
money  which  he  had  wrung  from  them.  Albert  was 
a  relative  of  the  electoral  family  of  Saxony,  but  Luther 
made  an  attack  on  him  at  this  time  which  was  full  of 
bitter  denunciation.  Lie  called  Albert  a  murderer,  and 
declared  that  he  ought  to  be  hanged  upon  a  gallows 
ten  times  as  high  as  that  on  which  his  poor  victim 
was  executed.  Albert  owed  his  elevation  to  the  cardi- 
nal's position  to  Luther,  the  pope  giving  him  this  place 
as  a  sort  of  rebuke  to  Luther  for  the  latter's  fight  on  in- 
dulgences; but  Luther  was  a  thorn  in  his  side  all  his 
Hfe. 

Luther  had  the  great  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  friend, 
Justus  Jonas,  installed  as  pastor  in  one  of  the  principal 
Churches  of  Halle,  which  had  been  one  of  the  favorite 
residences  of  the  Cardinal  Albert  and  the  scene  of 
much  of  his  debauchery. 


Luther  and  the  Progress  of  the  Reformation.    277 

For  many  years  Charles  had  promised  a  general 
council  to  take  into  account  the  abuses  that  had  grown 
up  in  the  Churcli  of  Rome,  and  had  held  this  out  as  an 
olive  branch  to  the  Protestants.  For  many  reasons, 
chief  among  which  was  the  unwillingness  of  the  popes 
to  call  such  a  gathering,  the  promise  was  long  in  ful- 
fillment. At  last,  only  a  few  months  before  Luther 
died,  the  Council  of  Trent  met  in  the  city  of  the  Tyrol 
which  gave  its  name  to  the  gathering.  This  historic 
body  sat  intermittently,  at  Trent  and  at  Bologna, 
from  1545  to  1563.  Of  course  the  doings  of  the  coun- 
cil of  Trent  do  not  enter  into  the  facts  of  Luther's  life, 
but  it  may  be  stated  truthfully  that  but  for  the  work 
of  Luther  the  pope  would  not  have  called  a  general 
council  at  this  time. »  If  the  Council  of  Trent  corrected 
any  of  the  wrongs  of  the  Church  (and  Catholics  be- 
lieve that  it  did),  due  credit  should  be  given  to  the 
man  who  had  dared  to  call  attention  to  these  evils.  Lu- 
ther, under  ban  for  much  of  his  life,  was  nevertheless 
the  most  helpful  man  of  his  age  to  the  very  Church  that 
had  condemned  him  and  would  gladly  have  lighted  a 
bonfire  about  his  body  that  would  have  illuminated  all 
the  world. 

This  study  of  ]\'Iartin  Luther's  connection  with  the 
great  Reformation  may  properly  close  with  the  follow- 
ing summary  of  his  teachings.  It  is  taken  from  the  ar- 
ticle on  Luther  in  the  Universal  Encyclopedia,  by  Dr. 
Llenry  E.  Jacobs,  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Theological  Seminary,  Philadelphia: 

I.  The  entire  corruption  of  human  nature  by  sin,  the  con- 
sequent divine  wrath  and  condemnation,  and  natural  inability 


278  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

for  self-recovery  or  response  to  the  first  approaches  of  divine 
grace. 

2.  God's  grace  and  mercy  received  entirely  from  his  grace 
and  free  will,  and  not  from  any  preceding  disposition  of  sinful 
man.  In  his  earlier  years  Luther  taught  absolute  predesti- 
nation. 

3.  The  vicarious  sufferings  of  Christ  as  the  price  of  man's 
redemption,  the  sufferings  of  the  human  nature  having  acquired 
infinite  efficacy  by  its  union  with  the  divine  nature  in  the  one 
divine,  human  person. 

4.  Justification  is  not  an  internal  change  in  man,  but  is  an 
external  act  of  God  alone,  whereby,  for  the  sake  of  Christ's 
merits,  received  by  faith,  he  forgives  sin  and  pronounces  sin- 
ful man  righteous. 

5.  Faith  is  a  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  man  wrought 
through  the  means  of  grace,  and  its  essential  factor  is  personal 
confidence  in  the  merits  of  Christ. 

6.  The  means  of  grace  are  the  Word  and  sacraments,  which 
are  inseparably  attended  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  so  that  they  are 
never  without  efficacy,  although  this  efficacy  does  not  work 
so  as  to  save  those  who  repel  the  Spirit's  approaches. 

7.  Baptism  is  a  means  both  of  regeneration  and  renewal. 
Those  who  after  baptism  fall  from  baptismal  grace  return 
by  faith  to  the  covenant  first  made  in  baptism.  All  repentance 
is  a  return  to  baptism. 

8.  The  presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  and  its 
reception  in  the  bread  and  wine  are  the  surest  pledge  of  the 
accomplished  fact  of  redemption  and  its  application  to  the  in- 
dividual believer.  Like  absolution,  its  effects  are  the  individ- 
ualization of  the  general  promise  of  the  gospel ;  only  the 
Lord's  Supper  accompanies  the  individualization,  with  the 
elements  and  with  the  heavenly  gifts  attending  them  as  seals 
and  pledges  of  the  promise. 

9.  The  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
are  the  final  judge  of  all  controversies;  but  everything  in  the 
constitution  and  worship  of  the  Church  not  contrary  to  Scrip- 
ture is  to  be  retained  and  thankfully  used. 


Ltither  and  the  Progress  of  the  Reformation.    279 

10.  In  the  New  Testament,  besides  the  priesthood  of  our 
High  Priest,  Jesus  Christ,  there  exists  only  the  spiritual  priest- 
hood of  all  believers,  since  they  have  access  to  Christ  direct- 
ly, and  without  the  mediation  of  saints,  angels,  or  any  priestly 
order. 

11.  The  ministry  and  the  priesthood  are  therefore  distinct 
institutions.  The  ministry  belongs  to  the  whole  Church,  but 
its  duties  are  to  be  exercised  only  by  those  who  arc  duly  called 
and  set  apart  to  this  purpose  In  exceptional  cases,  however, 
the  power  inherent  in  any  Christian  congregation  may  admit  of 
a  ministry  arising  anew  from  within. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Luther  at  Home  and  among  His  Friends. 

Martin  Luther^s  life  was  one  long  battle.  From 
the  day  he  first  realized  his  need  of  personal  salvation 
to  the  day  of  his  death  there  was  unceasing  conflict. 
But  his  contention  was  never  selfish  or  personal.-  His 
battle  was  for  the  truth  and  for  others. 

There  was  one  place,  however,  where  there  was 
peace.  This  was  his  home.  He  was  happily  married 
indeed,  and  his  home  life  was  beautiful.  In  the  bosom 
of  his  family  he  found  a  haven  of  rest,  and  in  the  love 
of  his  Katharina  he  found  the  solace  which  gives 
strength.  His  own  happy  marriage  inspired  this  trib- 
ute to  the  married  state  and  to  a  good  wife:  "Next  to 
God's  Word  the  world  has  no  more  precious  treasure 
than  holy  matrimony.  God's  best  gift  is  a  pious, 
cheerful,  God-fearing,  home-keeping  wife,  with  whom 
you  may  live  peacefully,  to  whom  you  can  trust  your 
goods  and  body  and  life." 

Katharina  certainly  filled  as  well  as  inspired  this 
ideal.  She  was  a  sensible,  industrious  woman,  with 
domestic  tastes  and  habits,  whose  sole  ambition  was 
to  be  a  good  wife  and  mother.  But  she  was  no  mere 
weakling,  and  was  something  better  than  a  domestic 
drudge.  Luther  delighted  in  her  practical  ways.  He 
used  to  help  her  about  the  garden,  took  an  interest  in  her 
fishpond,  and  sympathized  fully  and  practically  with  all 
her  common-sense  schemes  for  the  improvement  of  do- 
mestic conditions. 
(280) 


Luther  at  Home  and  among  His  Friends.      281 

Katharlna  took  full  charge  of  the  domestic  estab- 
lishment and  all  Its  affairs,  and  thus  greatly  relieved 
Luther  from  what  might  otherwise  have  been  a  great 
burden.  She  practiced  great  economy,  as  she  had  need 
to  do,  and  made  the  small  salary  of  her  husband  suffice 
for  all  the  needs  of  the  household.  Their  home,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  in  the  old  Augustine  monastery.  This 
establishment  seems  to  have  been  turned  over  to  Lu- 
ther under  a  sort  of  life  tenure.  It  was  not  finished 
when  Luther  and  his  wife  took  possession  of  it  as  their 
home,  and  it  seems  to  have  remained  thus  for  most  of 
the  time  afterwards.  It  stood  near  the  town  wall,  and 
Luther's  study  was  a  little  gable  room  overlooking 
this  and  the  river.  Some  part  of  the  building,  this 
room  included,  seems  to  have  been  removed  in  order 
to  make  room  for  the  city's  fortifications.  A  room  is 
still  preserved,  however,  which  is  shown  as  Luther's 
room.    This  was  probably  the  family  sitting  room. 

When  Luther  and  his  good  frau  began  to  keep 
house  their  income  was  quite  modest.  His  salary 
was  a  hundred  gulden,  equal  to  less  than  four  hundred 
dollars.  After  his  marriage  this  was  increased  to 
two  hundred  gulden.  Later  still  another  hundred  gul- 
den was  added  to  his  stipend.  In  the  course  of  time, 
as  Luther's  name  and  influence  spread  abroad,  he  re- 
ceived many  presents  from  distinguished  men  all  over 
Protestant  Germany,  and  even  from  foreign  countries. 
The  king  of  Denmark,  after  embracing  the  Lutheran 
faith,  added  an  annuity  to  his  salary  which  materially 
increased  his  income.  But  Luther  was  too  liberal  to 
become  rich,  even  if  his  salary  had  been  much  larger. 


282  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

He  was  quick  to  respond  to  every  appeal  for  help. 
Once  when  he  had  no  money  of  his  own  on  hand,  he 
took  a  small  sum  of  money  that  had  been  left  by  the 
godfather  of  one  of  his  children  as  a  token  of  good 
will  to  the  little  fellow,  at  the  time  only  a  few  days  old, 
and  gave  it  to  a  poor  man  who  told  a  sad  story  of 
want.  But  the  necessities  of  his  growing  family  con- 
strained him  to  be  more  thrifty  than  he  would  other- 
wise have  been.  As  already  noted,  he  purchased  a 
little  farm,  also  built  a  little  home  in  Wittenberg  itself, 
and  sought  to  make  provision  for  his  family  after  his 
death. 

Luther's  mother  died  about  four  years  after  his  fa- 
ther passed  away.  His  brother  James  received  the  real 
estate  of  his  father,  but  paid  Martin  some  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  gulden  for  his  interest  in  the  property. 
This  was  equivalent  to  some  eight  or  nine  hundred  dol- 
lars. This  patrimony  showed  how  thrifty  Luther's 
father  had  been,  and  how  successful  in  business. 

He  was  very  fond  of  his  wife,  and  with  a  love  of 
humor  that  was  irrepressible  he  frequently  teased  her. 
He  told  her  once  that  he  would  give  her  fifty  gulden 
if  she  would  read  the  whole  Bible  through ;  and  he 
told  his  friends  that  she  became  greatly  interested  in 
it  at  once.  He  told  her  that  his  first  opinion  of  her 
(that  she  was  proud)  was  correct,  and  laughingly 
called  himself  her  servant.  One  of  his  last  letters  to 
her,  written  only  a  short  time  before  he  died,  and  sent 
from  his  birthplace,  wfhither  he  had  gone  to  settle  a 
dispute  between  the  counts  of  Mansfeld,  bears  this 
humorous  address :  "To  mv  beloved  housewife,  Kath- 


LutJier  at  Home  and  among  His  Friends.      283 

arlna,  Lady  Luther,  Lady  Doctor,  Lady  of  the  Pig 
Market  at  Wittenberg,  my  gracious  wife,  bound  hand 
and  foot  in  gracious  service." 

The  home  of  these  two  was  a  thoroughly  rehgious 
one.  Every  morning,  with  his  household,  he  would 
repeat  the  Creed,  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  and  always  included  one  of  the  Psalms. 
He  did  this,  he  said,  to  keep  the  mildew  from  gathering 
on  his  faith.  No  one  entered  that  home  (and  many 
entered  it)  who  did  not  receive  a  breath  of  the  re- 
ligious atmosphere  that  pervaded  it.  Luther  the  fa- 
ther and  Luther  the  husband  and  Luther  the  head  of 
the  household  was  as  consistently  religious  as  Luther 
the  reformer.  Like  David  returning  from  the  sacred 
task  of  depositing  the  Ark  in  Jerusalem,  Luther  came 
from  his  labors  to  bless  his  own  household. 

Six  children  in  all  were  born  to  Luther  and  his  good 
Katharina.  The  first  of  these,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
John,  who  received  his  grandfather's  name.  ?Ie  came 
about  midsummer,  1526.  The  next  year  Elizabeth 
was  born.  She  lived  only  eight  months,  when,  as  her 
father  expressed  it,  "she  said  good-by  and  went  to 
Jesus — through  death  to  life."  Luther  marveled  that 
the  death  of  the  little  one  made  him  so  sick  at  heart — 
''almost  womanish,"  he  said. 

In  1529  Magdalene,  always  known  in  the  family  as 
Lena,  took  the  place  of  the  little  Elizabeth,  and  from 
her  very  infancy  seemed  to  get  into  the  very  heart  of 
her  father.  She  was  Luther's  favorite  child.  Her  pic- 
ture shows  that  slie  was  like  her  father  in  some  of  her 
features,  and  her  eyes   seem  to  have  been   strikingly 


284  A  Life  of  Martin  Lntlier. 

like  his.  She  died  when  entering  her  teens,  and  her 
death  was  deep  sorrow  to  Luther.  Her  iUness  was 
long  and  painful.  While  she  was  sick  her  father  said : 
*'I  love  her  very  much  indeed;  but,  dear  God,  if  thou 
wiliest  to  take  her  home,  I  would  gladly  she  were  with 
thee."  "Lena,  dear  little  daughter,  thou  wouldst  gladly 
remain  here  with  thy  father ;  art  thou  willing  to  go  to 
that  other  Father  ?"  he  asked  of  the  dying  child.  ''Yes," 
she  answered;  "Just  as  God  wills."  He  knelt  by  her 
bed  and  prayed  for  her  salvation,  and  the  dear  girl 
died  in  his  arms.  As  she  lay  in  her  coffin  her  father 
looked  at  the  sweet,  placid  face  of  his  darling  and  ex- 
claimed :  "Ah,  my  darling  Lena !  thou  wilt  rise  again, 
and  shine  like  a  star.  Yea,  like  the  sun !"  And  then 
he  added :  "I  am  happy  in  the  spirit,  but  in  the  flesh  I 
am  sorrowful.  The  flesh  will  not  be  subdued."  To 
the  weeping  members  of  his  household  and  their  sym- 
pathetic friends  he  said  triumphantly:  "I  have  sent  a 
saint  to  heaven !  If  my  death  could  be  like  hers,  I 
would  welcome  death  this  ver}^  moment." 

Those  who  have  had  a  similar  sorrow  will  under- 
stand the  grief  of  Luther.  He  wrote  to  Jonas:  "You 
will  have  heard  that  our  dearest  child  is  bom  again 
in  the  eternal  kingdom  of  God.  We  ought  to  be  glad 
at  her  going,  for  she  is  taken  away  from  the  world, 
the  flesh,  and  the  devil.  But  so  strong  is  natural  af- 
fection that  we  cannot  bear  it  without  anguish  of 
heart,  without  the  sense  of  death  in  ourselves.  When 
I  think  of  her  words  and  her  gestures  when  she  was 
with  us,  and  In  her  departing,  even  Christ's  death  can- 
not relieve  my  agony." 


Luther  at  Home  and  amoii^  His  Friends*       285 

On  her  tombstone  he  wrote  this  epitaph : 

Here  I,  Lena,  Luther's  daughter,  rest — 

Sleep  ill  my  little  bed  with  all  the  blest. 

In  sin  and  trespass  was  1  born ; 

Forever  thus  was  I  forlorn ! 

And  yet  I  live,  and  all  is  good — 

Thou,  Christ,  redeem'st  me  with  thy  blood ! 

In  1 53 1  Luther's  second  son  was  born.  As  his 
birth  was  close  to  his  father's  birthday,  if  not  actuahy 
on  it,  he  received  his  father's  name.  Two  years  later 
another  son  came,  and  to  this  one  Luther  gave  the 
name  of  Paul,  expressing  the  hope  at  his  baptism  that 
the  child  might  show  in  his  life  some  of  the  character- 
istics of  his  ancient  namesake.  A  little  girl,  who  re- 
ceived the  good  German  name  of  Margaret,  completed 
the  household  of  children. 

Luther,  as  much  engrossed  as  he  was  with  his  mul- 
tiplicity of  work  and  interests,  did  not  neglect  his  chil- 
dren. He  recognized  the  obligation  to  train  them  from 
birth  in  the  ways  of  righteousness  and  to  fit  them  for 
ways  of  usefulness  by  giving  them  the  best  possible 
education  within  his  means.  For  this  last  purpose  he 
employed  private  tutors  for  his  sons,  and  afterwards 
sent  John  away  from  home  because  there  was  no  school 
in  Wittenberg  quite  suitable  for  the  boy.  This  oldest 
son  seems  to  have  been  a  bit  spoiled,  having  given  his 
father  and  mother  some  trouble. 

Children  always  interested  Luther.  Their  innocent 
prattle,  their  unquestioning  faith,  their  joyous  hopeful- 
ness, their  abounding  life — all  these  characteristics  of 


286  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

childhood  made  children  his  constant  study  and  de- 
light. His  great  heart  was  never  far  removed  from 
the  child  heart.  As  we  have  already  seen,  some  of  the 
monumental  work  of  his  Hfe  was  done  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  his  catechisms. 

One  of  the  inmates  of  his  home  was  Lena  von 
Bora,  a  maiden  aunt  of  his  wife's.  She  had  been  at 
the  same  convent  as  had  Katharina,  and  head  nurse 
of  the  establishment.  After  leaving  the  convent,  and 
after  Luther's  marriage  to  her  niece,  she  came  to  the 
home  of  the  two  and  lived  in  his  family  as  a  sort  of 
mother  to  the  two  and  as  a  grandmother  to  their  chil- 
dren. No  member  of  the  family  was  more  beloved. 
It  was  she  to  whom  Luther  referred  in  his  letter  to 
Hans  as  Aunt  Lena.  She  died  when  these  children 
were  still  very  young,  and  Luther  said  to  her  as  she 
was  passing  away:  *'You  will  lie  down  as  in  a  cradle, 
and  sleep,  and  when  the  morning  dawns  you  will  awake 
and  live  forever.    You  will  not  die." 

A  niece  of  his  own,  Lena  Kaufmann,  was  also  a 
dweller  in  his  hospitable  home.  Luther  was  a  sort  of 
second  father  to  her,  and  had  the  pleasure  of  giving 
her  in  marriage  to  a  worthy  young  man  in  Witten- 
berg. It  seems  that  there  was  also  another  niece,  but 
little  is  known  of  her  beyond  her  name. 

Besides  these,  there  were  boarding  students  in  the 
family,  the  privilege  of  sitting  at  Luther's  table  being 
eagerly  sought  by  young  and  old.  Luther  was  gener- 
ally very  communicative  at  table,  and  some  of  his 
sayings — indeed,  many  of  them — have  been  preserved 
by  some  who  sat  at  his  table  as  inmates  of  the  home  or 


Luther  at  Home  a)id  aiiiong  His  Friends.      287 

as  guests.  This  "Table  Talk"  is  one  of  the  most  in- 
teresting memorials  of  the  great  reformer,  and  occa- 
sion will  be  taken  in  a  subsequent  chapter  to  give  some 
extracts  from  it. 

Luther's  health  was  precarious  for  a  number  of 
years.  In  1542,  believing  that  his  death  was  near,  he 
made  his  will.  He  left  all  his  property  to  his  wife. 
Nothing  that  he  ever  wrote  was  more  characteristic 
of  the  man  than  this  will.    Here  is  an  extract: 

Finally,  seeing  I  do  not  use  legal  forms,  for  which  I  have 
my  own  reasons,  1  desire  all  men  to  take  these  words  as  mine 
— a  man  known  openly  in  heaven,  on  earth,  and  in  hell  also ; 
who  has  enough  reputation  or  authority  to  be  believed  better 
than  any  notary.  To  me,  a  poor,  unworthy,  miserable  sinner, 
the  Father  of  all  mercy  has  intrusted  the  gospel  of  his  dear 
Son,  and  has  made  me  true  and  faithful  therein,  and  has  so 
preserved  and  found  me  hitherto  that  through  me  many  in 
this  world  have  received  the  gospel  and  hold  me  as  a  teacher 
of  the  truth,  despite  of  the  pope's  ban,  and  that  of  emperor, 
king,  princes,  priests,  and  all  the  wrath  of  the  devil. 

Let  them  believe  me  also  in  this  small  matter,  especially 
as  this  is  mine  own  hand,  not  altogether  unknown.  In  hope 
that  it  will  be  enough  for  men  to  say  and  prove  that  this  is 
the  earnest,  deliberate  meaning  of  Doctor  Martin  Luther, 
God's  notary  and  witness  in  his  gospel,  confirmed  by  his  own 
hand  and  seal. 

This  will  was  duly  witnessed,  and  John  Frederick 
immediately  confirmed  it. 

Luther  was  duly  mindful  of  the  needs  and  rights  of 
his  servants.  As  early  as  15 17,  while  he  was  still  a 
monk,  he  had  given  employment  to  a  sort  of  half- 
witted fellow  whose  name  was  Wolfgang,  or  Wolf 
Siegel.      Tt   seems    that   Luther   employed    him   more 


288  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

through  sympathy  than  for  any  special  service  the 
poor  fellow  could  render,  and  for  the  same  reason  kept 
him  in  his  employ  as  long  as  he  (Luther)  lived,  and 
sought  to  make  provision  for  him  when  disposing  of 
his  little  estate.  Luther  loved  to  tease  him,  as  he 
seems  to  have  every  one  else  that  he  was  intimate  with, 
and  one  of  the  most  amusing  mementos  of  the  re- 
former is  a  paper  that  Luther  wrote  in  which  he  states 
that  the  birds  had  lodged  complaint  against  Wolf  for 
setting  traps  for  them  and  baiting  these  traps  with 
grain,  and  then  sleeping  till  eight  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing ;  while  the  birds  were  up  and  eating  the  grain  with- 
out knowing  the  danger  that  lurked  so  near.  The 
paper  went  on  to  say  that  the  birds  prayed  Luther  to 
make  Wolf  hunt  snails  and  the  like  in  the  daytime,  in- 
stead of  trying  to  catch  them.  When  another  servant 
left  Luther's  employ,  after  having  done  several  years 
of  hard  and  faithful  work,  Luther,  being  absent  from 
home  at  the  time,  wrote  to  his  wife  to  give  him  a  sub- 
stantial token  of  regard,  assuring  her  that  others  would 
remember  them  as  they  remembered  the  servant.  Lu- 
ther realized  that  his  enemies  were  alert,  and  only  too 
anxious  to  find  some  fault  or  flaw  in  his  life  which 
might  be  magnified  into  a  serious  ofifense. 

In  the  stormy  times  in  which  Luther  lived,  and  in 
the  storms  that  entered  his  own  life,  it  is  pleasant  to 
dwell  upon  his  home  and  home  life.  Here  was  peace, 
here  was  contentment,  here  was  happiness.  He  de- 
lighted in  the  companionship  of  his  Katie  and  his 
children.  They  were  his  joy  and  his  crown.  He  took 
an  unfailing  interest  in  all  that  concerned  their  tem- 


Luther  at  Home  and  among  His  Friends.       289 

poral  and  spiritual  well-being.  One  of  tlie  charms  of 
his  home  was  music.  As  we  have  already  seen,  he 
played  well  on  the  flute.  He  said  that  he  loved  music 
because  it  drove  the  devil  away.  His  Lena  learned 
how  to  sing  before  she  was  four  years  old.  He  wrote 
with  pride  of  this  fact  to  one  of  his  friends.  The  home 
of  the  reformer  was  ideal. 

Prince  Bismarck  once  said  that  you  never  knew  a 
man  until  you  knew  the  enemies  he  had  made — a  sen- 
timent quite  in  keeping  with  the  character  of  the  build- 
er of  the  present  German  Empire.  It  is  truer  still  that 
you  cannot  know  an  individual  until  you  know  the 
friends  he  has  made,  and  the  means  by  which  he  has 
made  those  friends.  We  have  seen  something  of  the 
enemies  Martin  Luther  made,  and  the  reasons  for  the 
enmities  cherished  against  him  even  until  this  day. 
It  is  pleasant  to  turn  from  this  phase  of  his  history 
and  give  some  attention  to  those  whom  Luther  loved 
and  trusted  as  his  friends,  and  who  in  turn  looked  upon 
him  with  the  warmest  affection.  Luther  never  sought 
or  won  friends  by  flattery  or  policy.  He  was  always 
too  intensely  earnest  in  his  convictions  to  be  guilty  of 
lowly  fawning.  He  gave  proper  reverence  to  those  in 
authority  because  of  their  official  place,  but  he  never 
bowed  the  knee  of  suppliant  submission  before  popes 
or  princes.  He  was  as  nearly  fearless  as  any  man  that 
ever  lived,  and  his  manner  corresponded  with  his 
positive  convictions.  Some  of  the  things  he  wrote 
and  spoke  were  not  merely  aggressive ;  they  were 
sometimes  fierce  and  violent.    The  reason  he  used  no 

stronger  language  in  his  invectives  against  the  papacy 
19 


290  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

and  its  abettors  was  because  his  mother  tongue  afford- 
ed no  stronger  words.  Such  a  man  would  most  surely 
make  enemies,  and  such  a  man  would  as  surely  win 
friends. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  friendship 
between  Luther  and  Melanchthon.  This  friendship 
continued  uninterruptedly  for  at  least  thirty  years. 
Luther  used  the  most  endearing  terms  in  writing  to 
Melanchthon.  He  opened  his  inmost  soul  to  Philip. 
He  sought  his  sympathy  in  the  severest  trials  of  his 
life.  He  was  always  ready  to  give  more  credit  than  the 
impartial  historian  gives  to  Melanchthon  in  the  work  of 
the  great  Reformation.  He  said  that  he  was  like  the 
woodman  who  blazes  the  way  through  the  wilderness ; 
w^iile  Philip  was  the  builder  who  turned  the  trees  the 
pioneer  had  cut  down  into  the  great  structure.  A  theo- 
logical work  by  Melanchthon,  called  "Loci  Communes," 
and  which  was  perhaps  the  first  effort  to  systematize  the 
teachings  of  Protestantism,  had  Luther's  unqualified 
indorsement  and  his  highest  praise  as  well. 

As  we  have  seen,  Luther  had  warm  friends  among 
the  nobility.  It  seems  certain  that  Charles  V.  recog- 
nized his  worth  of  character  and  was  as  kindly  dis- 
posed toward  him  as  was  possible  under  the  circum- 
stances. The  ban  under  which  he  placed  the  reformer 
did  not  represent  his  personal  feeliiags  toward  Lu- 
ther, but  was  the  product  of  his  connection  with  Rom- 
anism. 

The  Elector  Frederick  was  a  most  helpful  friend  to 
Luther,  and  protected  him  when  it  was  not  popular, 
if  even  safe  for  himself  to  do  so,  and  came  at  last,  as 


Luther  at  Home  and  among  His  Friends.      201 

we  have  seen,  to  accept  the  Lutheran  views,  though 
he  never  openly  committed  himself  to  Protestantism. 
But  Frederick  did  not  take  Luther  into  close  personal 
relations.  The  only  time  Luther  ever  saw  this  royal 
friend  was  when  he  stood  before  the  Diet  of  Worms. 
But  a  different  relation  existed  between  Luther  and 
John.  When  John  Frederick  came  to  the  electoral 
throne  Luther  had  the  fullest  personal  access  to  him. 
In  fact,  the  young  elector  regarded  Luther  as  his 
spiritual  father;  while  Sibyl,  John  Frederick's  lovable 
consort,  opened  her  young  and  trustful  heart  fully  to 
the  reformer.  This  extract  from  a  note  to  him  from 
Sibyl  is  a  pleasing  proof  of  this.  She  tells  Luther  of 
the  absence  of  her  husband,  and  says  that  she  would 
be  glad  to  receive  a  word  in  her  loneliness  from  ''her 
true  friend,  and  a  lover  of  the  Word  of  God,"  and 
closes  her  letter  thus :  ''You  will  greet  your  dear  wife 
very  kindly  for  us,  and  wish  her  many  thousand  good- 
nights,  and  if  it  is  God's  will,  we  shall  be  very  glad 
to  be  with  her  some  day,  and  with  you  also  as  well  as 
with  her.    This  you  may  believe  of  us  at  all  times." 

When  John  lay  dying,  Luther  was  hastily  summoned 
to  his  bedside,  but  arrived  too  late  to  have  any  intelli- 
gent communication  with  the  elector  in  his  last  hours. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  Luther's  desperate 
illness  at  Schmalkalden  in  1537.  It  seemed  that  his  last 
hour  had  come.  His  trouble  was  gravel.  His  body 
swelled,  and  every  appliance  and  remedy  gave  him  no 
relief.  Even  then  his  unfailing  humor  came  out.  "The 
Jews  stoned  Stephen,"  he  said ;  "but  my  stone,  the  vil- 
lain, is  stoning  me."    At  last  he  determined  to  attempt 


292  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

the  journey  homeward,  preferring  to  die  under  his 
own  roof  if  possible.  The  elector  had  been  at  his  bed- 
side, and  promised  to  care  for  his  family,  and  it  was  in 
the  royal  carriage  the  sick  man  began  his  painful 
travel.  Strangely  enough,  while  he  suffered  agonies 
by  the  way,  after  the  first  day's  journey  of  a  few  miles 
he  obtained  relief  and  subsequently  recovered,  much 
to  the  joy  of  his  friends. 

Princes  and  nobles  sought  his  counsel  in  all  difficult 
questions,  and  honored  him  with  their  friendship  and 
confidence.  They  trusted  him  because  he  was  un- 
selfish and  true. 

Luther  was  equally  a  friend  to  the  common  people. 
He  never  forgot  that  he  was  a  peasant  by  birth.  His 
constant  thought  was  for  the  moral  and  religious  bet- 
terment of  his  ''dear  Germans."  The  poorest  of  the 
people  had  easy  access  to  him,  and  found  him  a  S}Tn- 
pathetic  friend.  His  years  in  a  cloister  did  not  wean 
his  heart  away  from  the  people,  but  seemed  to  create 
a  deeper  love  for  all  classes  of  people,  high  and  low. 

He  was  always  abstemious  in  his  habits ;  but  after 
he  left  the  monastic  life  he  was  utterly  free  from  asceti- 
cism. We  have  already  spoken  of  his  humor.  This 
was  one  of  the  saving  traits  of  his  character.  It 
brightened  many  a  dark  hour  in  his  checkered  life.  It 
took  the  sting  out  of  many  a  sharp  speech.  It  ir- 
radiated his  whole  life  and  his  association  with  his 
friends.  It  softened  the  asperities  of  the  many  con- 
troversies in  which  he  was  so  often  engaged,  and  from 
which  he  was  never  entirely  free  during  the  active  years 
of  his  work  as  a  reformer.     His  humor  was  not  the 


Luther  at  Home  and  among  His  Friends,      293 

sarcasm  of  the  cynic  or  of  the  misanthrope ;  it  was  the 
cheerful  spirit  of  a  lover  of  his  fcllow-mcn,  whose 
master  passion  was  a  desire  to  help  others.  It  was 
not  the  humor  of  malevolence,  but  benevolence.  It 
flashed  out  in  the  brightest  wit ;  it  shone  with  the  gen- 
tlest radiance ;  it  cheered  and  rejoiced  his  own  heart 
and  the  hearts  of  his  friends.  It  was  certainly  a  part 
of  that  wondrous  magnetism  that  attracted  and  at- 
tached men  to  him.  It  made  Luther  a  gentleman  de- 
spite the  inherent  roughness  of  his  nature,  and  a  *friend 
who  went  among  his  fellows  with  good  cheer  and  good 
will — "a  man  and  a  brother." 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Luther's  "Table  Talk." 

Of  all  the  memorabilia  of  Martin  Luther  that  have 
been  preserved,  none  have  interested  students  of  his  life 
more  than  his  ''Tischreden/'  or  "Table  Talk."  Many 
prominent  men  sat  down  at  his  table  in  the  course  of 
his  life,  and  his  guests  listened  to  him  as  to  an  oracle. 
Here  men  of  learning  and  piety  found  an  intellectual 
clearing  house,  where  many  thoughts  and  truths  and 
convictions  were  exchanged,  each  perhaps  feeling  that 
he  had  received  as  much  as  he  had  given.  But  the 
center  of  this  group  was  always  the  host  himself, 
generously  hospitable,  often  humorous,  and  always 
interesting.  Few  men  of  the  age  had  read  so  much, 
fewer  still  knew  so  much,  and  none  were  more  gener- 
ous in  dispensing  knowledge.  It  was  a  liberal  educa- 
tion to  sit  long  at  that  table.  Fortunately  for  history, 
many  things  that  Martin  Luther  said  at  his  table  and  in 
his  home  have  been  preserved.  Some  of  his  friends 
were  as  faithful  to  him  as  Boswell  was  to  old  Dr. 
Samuel  Johnson;  but  in  Luther's  case  the  chroniclers 
did  not  make  the  man  famous,  as  in  the  case  of  Dr. 
Johnson.  The  first  edition  of  Luther's  "Table  Talk" 
was  published  some  twenty  years  after  his  death,  by 
John  Aurifaber,  and  the  volume  was  an  immense  quar- 
to of  more  than  twelve  hundred  pages.  It  contained 
the  memoranda  of  Aurifaber  himself,  and  similar 
memoranda  preserved  by  Mathesius,  Veit  Dietrich,  and 
(294) 


Luther's  ''Table  Talk:'  2ys 

others.  The  "Table  Talk"  has  been  recast  a  number  of 
times,  and  has  been  abridged  into  a  much  smaller  vol- 
ume. It  has  been  translated  into  English  and  other 
languages.  Possibly  these  chronicling  guests  at  Lu- 
ther's table  were  more  faithful  than  discriminating 
but  what  they  wrote  down  at  the  time  of  his  "Talk"  is 
worth  much  not  merely  as  an  aid  to  an  understanding 
of  Luther  himself,  but  also  of  the  stirring  times  of 
the  great  Reformation.  Many  a  historic  sidelight  is 
thrown  upon  men  and  measures  by  the  comments  of 
Luther  and  his  friends  on  passing  events. 

This  chapter  will  be  given  to  some  of  the  things 
Luther  said  to  his  friends  at  his  own  table.  Where 
there  is  so  much  that  is  so  good,  it  is  difficult  to  select 
that  which  is  best,  especially  in  such  a  limited  space. 
Such  of  his  sayings  will  be  given  as  seem  to  reveal  the 
true  character  of  Martin  Luther.  Few  men  have  ever 
lived  whose  inmost  thoughts  have  been  so  fully  re- 
vealed to  their  fellow-men,  and  few  men  could  stand 
a  test  like  this  without  suffering  infinitely  more  by 
such  a  disclosure.  In  Luther's  "Table  Talk"  we  see 
Martin  Luther  in  mental  and  spiritual  undress,  and 
fmd  but  few  blemishes. 

Here  are  some  of  the  things  that  he  said  about  wom- 
an, marriage,  childhood,  and  home. 

"He  that  insults  preachers  of  the  Word  and  women 
will  never  meet  with  success.  .  .  .  Whosoever 
condemns  them,  condemns  alike  God  and  man." 

"The  Saxon  law,  which  assigns  as  a  wife's  i)ortion  a 
chair  and  a  distaff,  is  too  severe.  It  ought  to  be  in- 
terpreted liberally,  as  implying  by  the  first  gift  the  right 


296  A  Life  of  Martin  Lidther, 

of  remaining  in  the  dwelling  of  her  husband ;  and  by 
the  second  her  subsistence,  her  maintenance.  A  man 
pays  his  servant  more  liberally;  nay,  he  gives  more 
than  this  to  a  beggar !" 

Ambrose  Brend  asked  the  hand  of  Luther's  niece 
in  marriage,  and,  as  already  mentioned,  Luther  united 
the  two  in  wedlock.  One  day  before  they  were  mar- 
ried Luther  came  upon  them  apart,  whispering  and 
laughing  after  the  manner  of  lovers,  and  exclaimed: 
"I  don't  wonder  at  a  bridegroom  having  so  much  to  say 
to  his  betrothed.  And  persons  so  circumstanced  never 
grow  weary  of  each  other's  company.  So  far,  how- 
ever, from  putting  any  restraint  upon  them,  I  hold 
them  privileged  above  law  and  custom." 

On  the  occasion  of  the  marriage  of  the  two,  he  made 
use  of  these  words :  "Sir  and  dear  friend,  I  here  give 
unto  you  this  young  maiden,  such  as  God  in  his  good- 
ness bestowed  her  upon  me;  I  confide  her  to  you. 
May  God  bless  you  and  render  your  union  holy  and 
happy." 

"Do  as  I  myself  did,"  said  Luther  to  one  of  his 
friends,  "when  I  was  desirous  of  taking  my  dear 
Katharina  to  wife.  I  offered  up  my  prayers  to  our 
Lord.  I  prayed  earnestly.  Do  thou  pray  earnestly 
also.    Thou  hast  not  yet  done  so." 

Teasing  his  wife  on  one  occasion,  he  said  laughing- 
ly to  her :  "Did  you  say  the  Lord's  Prayer  before  you 
began  your  admirable  sermon?  If  you  had,  God  would 
assuredly  have  prevented  you  from  preaching." 

"If,"  said  he  on  one  occasion,  evidently  in  the  same 
spirit,  "I  were  to  marry  again,  I  would  carve  for  my- 


Liithe/s  ''Table  Talk/'  297 

self  an  obedient  wife  out  of  a  block  of  marble;  for  un- 
less I  did  so,  I  should  despair  of  finding  one." 

"There  ought  to  be  no  interval  between  the  betroth- 
al and  the  marriage,"  he  declared.  "Oftentimes  the 
friends  of  both  parties  interpose  obstacles." 

"When  Eve  was  brought  unto  Adam,"  he  remarked 
once,  "he  became  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  gave 
her  the  most  sanctified,  the  most  glorious  of  all  ap- 
pellations. He  called  her  Eva — that  is  to  say,  the 
mother  of  all.  He  did  not  call  her  wife,  but  simply 
mother — the  mother  of  all  living  creatures.  In  this 
consists  the  glory  and  the  most  precious  ornament  of 
woman.  She  is  fons  omnium  vivcntinni — the  source 
of  all  human  life.  This  is  a  brief  phrase.  But  neither 
Demosthenes  nor  Cicero  could  have  paralleled  it.  It 
is  the  Holy  Ghost  himself  who  spoke  thus  through 
the  medium  of  our  first  parent.  As  he  has  herein  con- 
veyed so  noble  an  eulogium  upon  the  marriage  state, 
it  is  for  us  to  conceal  the  frailty  of  woman.  Nor  did 
Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God  contemn  the  marriage 
state.  He  himself  was  born  of  a  woman,  which  is  of 
itself  the  highest  eulogy  that  could  be  pronounced  on 
marriage." 

Seeing  his  little  children  looking  with  eager  hope 
and  wistfulness  at  some  fruit  served  on  the  table,  Lu- 
ther exclaimed :  "Whoso  would  behold  the  image  of  a 
soul  which  enjoys  the  fullness  of  hope  may  find  it  in 
these  infants.  Ah,  if  we  could  but  await  with  such 
joyful  expectations  for  the  life  to  come  !" 

Once  the  mother  brought  little  Magdalene  to  her 
father,  that  she  might  sing  a  favorite  hymn  for  him. 


298  A  Life  of  Martin  Liithey. 

The  cliild  showed  reluctance,  and  the  mother  was 
ready  to  use  force;  but  Luther  interposed.  "Nothing 
good  comes  of  violence.  Without  grace,  the  works 
of  the  law  are  nought." 

One  day  when  his  wife  placed  one  of  their  children, 
an  infant,  in  his  arms,  he  declared :  "I  would  willingly 
have  died  at  the  age  of  this  child ;  I  would  willingly 
have  renounced  for  that  all  the  honor  I  have  gained 
and  all  I  am  still  to  acquire  in  the  world." 

"Children,  after  all,  are  the  happiest.  We  older 
fools  constantly  torment  ourselves  and  bring  affliction 
on  us  by  our  eternal  disputes  about  the  Word.  Is  it 
true?  Is  it  possible?  How  is  it  possible?  These  are 
our  incessant  inquiries.  Whereas  children,  in  the 
simplicity  and  purity  of  their  faith,  possess  a  cer- 
tainty, and  doubt  of  nothing  in  which  their  salvation 
is  concerned.  In  order  to  be  saved,  we  ought  to  imi- 
tate their  example  and  hold  fast  to  the  Word  of 
God  alone."  This  was  a  lesson  he  got  on  one  occa- 
sion. 

Nature  was  full  of  meaning  and  truth  to  Luther. 
Flowers,  trees,  plants,  fruit,  all  taught  and  illustrated 
some  divine  lesson  to  his  devout  soul.  One  day  he 
was  walking  in  his  garden  in  early  spring,  when,  look- 
ing at  all  the  verdure  about  him,  he  burst  out :  "Glory 
to  God,  who,  from  the  dead  creation  thus  raises  up 
life  again  in  the  springtime.  Behold  these  branches, 
how  strong,  how  beautiful  they  are !  Already  they 
teem  and  are  big  wnth  the  fruit  they  will  bring  forth. 
They  ofifer  a  beautiful  image  of  the  resurrection  of  all 
men.     The  winter  season  represents  death ;  the  sum- 


Luther  s  ''Table  Talk."  299 

mertide  the  resurrection.  Then  all  things  live  again; 
all  is  verdant." 

After  a  spring  shower,  which  had  greatly  refreshed 
all  nature,  he  turned  his  eyes  toward  heaven  and  ex- 
claimed :  *'.  .  .  Thou  has  granted  to  us,  O  Lord, 
this  bounty — to  us,  who  are  so  ungrateful  to  thee,  so 
full  of  wickedness  and  avarice.  But  thou  art  a  God 
of  goodness  !  This  is  no  work  of  the  devil !  No ;  it  is 
a  bounteous  thunder  which  shakes  the  earth  and  rouses 
it,  cleaving  it,  that  its  fruits  may  come  forth  and  spread 
a  perfume  like  to  that  which  is  diffused  by  the  prayer 
of  a  Christian." 

The  summer  fields,  covered  with  ripening  wheat,  so 
inspired  him  with  gratitude  that  he  broke  forth  in  this 
earnest  prayer  and  thanksgiving:  **0,  God  of  all  good- 
ness, thou  hast  bestowed  upon  us  a  year  of  plenty ; 
but  not  because  of  our  piety,  O  Lord,  but  in  order  to 
glorify  thy  holy  name.  Cause  us,  O  Lord,  to  amend 
our  lives  and  to  increase  in  faith  and  in  the  belief  of 
thy  holy  Word.  All  in  and  around  thee  are  miracles. 
Thy  voice  causes  to  spring  out  of  the  earth  and  out 
of  the  sand  of  the  desert  these  beautiful  plants,  these 
green  blades,  which  so  rejoice  the  eye.  O,  Father, 
give  unto  all  thy  children  their  daily  bread." 

Observing  the  shyness  of  two  birds  that  were  build- 
ing their  nest  in  his  garden,  he  said  to  the  little  crea- 
tures :  "  *Ah,  poor  little  birds,  fly  not  away !  I  wish  you 
well  with  all  my  heart,  if  you  would  only  believe  me.' 
Thus  we  ourselves  refuse  to  trust  in  God,  who,  so  far 
from  willing  our  condemnation,  has  given  for  us  his 
own  Son !" 


306  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

Luther  had  constantly  in  mind  the  Bible  and  its 
truths,  and  wrote  with  a  piece  of  chalk  on  the  wall  be- 
hind his  stove,  where  he  could  see  them  constantly 
when  in  his  room,  these  words  from  the  sixteenth  chap- 
ter of  St.  Luke:  *'He  that  is  faithful  in  that  which  is 
least  is  faithful  also  in  much :  and  he  that  is  unjust  in 
the  least  is  unjust  also  in  much."  Pointing  to  this  once 
he  said:  *'The  child  Jesus  still  sleeps  in  the  arms  of 
Mary,  his  mother.  He  will  awake  one  day  and  call  us 
to  account  for  what  we  have  done.'* 

He  said  while  being  shaved  one  day  that  humanity 
was  much  like  the  beard,  and  needed  constant  atten- 
tion and  watching.  "Human  nature  has  not  any  un- 
derstanding, not  even  a  sentiment,  respecting  that  mor- 
tal malady  by  which  it  is  overwhelmed." 

Some  one  asked  Luther  if  an  injured  party  was 
bound  to  go  to  the  party  who  had  injured  him  and  ask 
his  pardon.  He  answered  with  emphasis :  "No ;  Jesus 
Christ  himself  has  not  left  us  such  an  example,  nor  has 
he  anywhere  commanded  it  to  be  done.  It  is  sufficient 
if  we  pardon  ofifenses  in  our  heart  (publicly  when  oc- 
casion calls  on  us  to  do  so),  and  that  we  pray  for  those 
who  have  injured  us  or  offended  us.  I  myself  went 
on  one  occasion  to  two  persons  who  had  injured  me, 
Agricola  and  Dr.  Jerome  Schuff,  but  it  fell  out  by 
chance  that  neither  of  them  was  at  home,  so  I  came 
back  and  made  no  other  endeavor  to  see  them.  I  now 
return  thanks  to  God  that  I  was  not  permitted  to  do 
so,  as  I  then  wished." 

Speaking  of  pilgrimages,  he  said :  "In  former  times, 
under  the  papacy,  pilgrimages  were  undertaken  to  visit 


Luther's  '"Tabic  Talk."  301 

the  saints.  People  went  to  Rome,  to  Jerusalem,  to  St. 
lago  of  Compostella,  to  expiate  their  sins.  Nowadays 
we  perform  our  Christian  pilgrimages  by  means  of 
faith.  When  we  read  diligently  the  prophets,  the 
Psalms,  and  the  Gospels,  we  arrive  not  to  the  Holy 
City,  but  through  our  hearts  and  thoughts  even  unto 
God.  This  is  journeying  to  the  real  land  of  promise, 
the  paradise  of  eternal  life." 

A  preacher  sent  an  inquiry  to  Luther  as  to  the  pro- 
priety of  baptizing  infants  in  warm  rather  than  cold 
water.  "Tell  that  blockhead,"  returned  Luther,  "that 
water  is  water,  whether  cold  or  hot."  Evidently  the 
people  of  Luther's  time  were  not  unlike  some  of  a 
later  generation.  He  said  that  they  criticised  preach- 
ers, and  objected  to  certain  mannerisms.  There  was 
Justus  Jonas,  for  instance,  who  was  a  good  preacher; 
but  the  people  criticise  him  because  he  "hums  and 
spits."  He  said  with  characteristic  good  humor  that 
he  thought  preachers  ought  to  be  handsome  men,  "so 
as  to  please  the  ladies."  He  teased  his  friends  who 
took  such  careful  note  of  what  he  said,  and  played  at 
least  one  practical  joke  on  them. 

Luther  did  not  think  much  of  saints,  a  fact  which 
illustrates  the  great  revolution  that  had  taken  place  in 
his  religious  convictions.  "What  are  saints,"  he  asked, 
"in  comparison  with  Christ?  They  are  no  more  than 
the  sparkling  drops  of  the  night  dew  on  the  head  of 
the  bridegroom." 

He  did  not  attach  much  importance  to  the  evidential 
value  of  miracles.  "The  convincing  testimony,"  he  as- 
serted, "is  to  be  found  in  the  Word  of  God.     Our  ad- 


302  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

versaries,"  he  went  on,  "read  the  translation  of  the 
Bible  much  more  frequently  than  we  do.  I  believe 
that  Duke  George  has  read  it  more  carefully  than  any 
one  of  the  noblemen  who  are  with  us.  He  said  to 
some  one:  'If  that  monk  but  finishes  his  translation  of 
the  Bible,  he  may  take  his  departure  as  soon  as  he 
likes.'  " 

This  was  a  realistic  expression  of  his  faith :  "Let  our 
enemies  indulge  their  transports  of  rage;  God  has  not 
set  up  a  stone  wall  to  confine  the  waves  of  the  ocean, 
nor  has  he  controlled  them  by  a  mountain  of  steel.  He 
thought  it  enough  to  place  a  shore,  a  boundary  of  sand." 

This  statement  reveals  much  of  his  experience  as  a 
Romanist :  "I  read  very  much  in  my  Bible  while  I  was 
a  monk,  during  my  youth ;  but  this  availed  me  nothing. 
I  simply  looked  upon  Christ  as  another  Moses."  But 
if  he  had  not  read  his  Bible,  he  would  never  have  dis- 
covered that  Jesus  was  something  more  than  another 
lawgiver. 

Luther  set  a  proper  estimate  upon  the  Ten  Command- 
ments. "The  natural  moral  law  is  nowhere  so  well  set 
forth  and  written  down  as  by  Moses."  He  thought  the 
world  would  be  much  better  governed  if  more  of  the 
Mosaic  law  were  incorporated  into  civil  laws,  especially 
the  law  of  divorce,  of  the  jubilee,  and  of  tithes. 

"The  Lord's  Prayer  is  that  which  I  prefer,"  he  said. 
"I  constantly  repeat  it,  mingling  with  it  sentences  from 
the  Psalms.  The  Lord's  Prayer  has  no  equal  among 
prayers.    I  like  it  better  than  any  of  the  Psalms." 

Luther  had  read  and  studied  the  fathers  of  the 
Church   quite  thoroughly   and  quite  discriminatingly. 


Luther's  "Tabic  Talk." 


303 


He  thought  Augustine  superior  to  any  of  theni' — a  very 
natural  opinion.  His  judgment  of  these  ancient  writ- 
ers was  summed  up  in  the  sentence :  "They  Hved  better 
than  they  wrote.  Since  I  became  by  the  grace  of  God 
capable  of  understanding  St.  Paul,"  he  added,  *'I  have 
been  unable  to  esteem  any  of  these  doctors ;  they  have 
shrunk  into  insignificance  in  my  estimation." 

He  makes  this  admission :  'T  admit  that  I  have  been 
guilty  of  too  much  violence,  but  never  with  regard  to 
the  papacy.  There  ought  to  be  set  aside  for  the  special 
service  of  the  popish  battle  a  tongue  every  word  of 
which  is  a  thunderbolt."  In  another  reference  to  his 
own  methods  he  said :  "I  have  attacked  the  manners  of 
the  popes,  as  did  Erasmus  and  John  Huss ;  but  I  leveled 
the  two  pillars  upon  which  popery  rested — namely, 
vows  and  private  masses." 

Luther  never  expected  a  general  council,  nor  any- 
thing good  from  one  if  it  should  be  held.  *Tt  seems 
to  me  that  we  shall  not  have  one  until  the  day  of  judg- 
ment. Tlien  our  Lord  God  himself  will  hold  a  general 
council." 

During  the  debate  at  Heidelberg  some  one  asked 
how  the  monks  originated.  Luther  gave  this  answer: 
"God  having  ordained  the  priesthood,  the  devil,  as  us- 
ual, wished  to  imitate  what  he  had  done ;  but  he  shaved 
too  much  of  the  hair  ofif  his  men." 

Luther  advocated  public  schools,  favoring  special 
schools  for  females.  Children,  he  thought,  should  be 
kept  at  study  for  at  least  an  hour  every  day,  the  rest  of 
the  time  being  given  to  the  acquisition  of  some  useful 
trade.   The  reformer  appreciated  the  importance  of  pub- 


304  ^i  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

lie  libraries,  equipped  with  books  in  the  German  lan- 
guage— books  whose  subjects  should  embrace  all 
branches  of  learning  as  well  as  general  information. 
In  what  he  said  in  his  *'Table  Talk"  touching  these  mat- 
ters it  is  easy  to  find  the  germs  of  many  intellectual 
plants  that  have  since  grown  up  in  Germany. 

"Wisdom,  understanding,  learning,  and  the  pen — 
these  do  govern  the  world.  If  God  were  angry  and 
took  out  of  the  world  all  the  learned  then  all  people 
would  become  like  wild  and  savage  beasts."  So  said 
the  man  who  was  seeking  the  uplift  his  generation,  and 
with  it  all  the  world. 

Luther  thought  highly  of  music  not  merely  as  an 
art  but  as  a  moral  help.  "Music  is  one  of  the  most  de- 
lightful and  magnificent  presents  that  God  has  given 
us.  Satan  is  the  inveterate  enemy  of  music,  for  he 
knows  that  by  its  aid  we  drive  away  temptations  and 
evil  thoughts ;  he  cannot  make  headway  against  music.'* 
After  hearing  some  sweet  music  in  his  home  one  even- 
ing he  exclaimed:  "If  our  Lord  grants  us  such  noble 
gifts  as  these  in  our  present  life,  what  will  it  not  be  in 
the  life  eternal?" 

Luther,  though  by  no  means  free  from  superstition, 
had  no  faith  whatever  in  astrolog}%  and  ridiculed  its 
predictions  with  much  sarcasm.  "It  may  be  very  true 
that  astrologists  can  predict  to  the  wicked  their  future 
destiny  and  announce  to  them  the  death  that  awaits 
them,  for  the  devil  knows  the  thoughts  of  the  wicked 
and  has  them  in  his  power." 

"Speaking  of  signs,"  he  said,  "I  believe  they  are  for 
the  most  part  delusions  of  the  devil." 


Luther's  ''Table  Talk."  305 

His  ideas  of  preaching  were  thoroughly  practical. 
Some  one  complained  to  him  that  it  was  not  always  pos- 
sible to  follow  him  in  his  sermons.  Luther  replied: 
*'I  cannot  always  follow  myself.  If  I  had  my  life  to 
live  over,  I  would  make  my  sermons  much  shorter, 
for  I  am  conscious  that  they  have  been  too  wordy." 
Erasmus  Albertus  asked  Luther  for  some  advice  as  to 
how  he  should  preach  before  the  Elector  of  Branden- 
burg, to  whom  he  was  to  be  pastor.  Luther  answered : 
*'Your  sermons  should  be  addressed  not  to  princes  and 
nobles,  but  to  the  rude,  uncultivated  commonalty.  If  in 
my  discourses  I  had  to  be  thinking  about  Melanchthon 
and  the  other  doctors,  I  should  da  no  good  at  all.  But 
I  preach  in  plain  language  to  the  plain,  unlearned  peo- 
ple, and  that  pleases  all  parties.  If  I  know  the  Greek, 
Hebrew,  and  Latin  languages,  I  reserve  them  for  our 
learned  meetings,  where  they  are  of  use;  for  at  these 
we  deal  in  such  subtleties  and  profundities  so  much 
that  God  himself,  I  wot,  must  sometimes  wonder  at  us." 

His  fearlessness  in  the  pulpit  is  fully  voiced  in  this 
declaration:  "I  am  very  far  from  thinking  myself  fault- 
less, but  I  may  at  least  boast  with  St.  Paul  that  I  cannot 
be  accused  of  hypocrisy  and  that  I  have  always  spoken 
the  truth ;  perhaps,  indeed,  somewhat  too  harshly.  I 
would  rather  offend  man  by  the  acerbity  of  my  lan- 
guage in  diffusing  the  truth  than  offend  God  by 
keeping  the  truth  captive  in  my  breast.  If  the  grandees 
are  offended  at  my  manner  of  preaching,  they  are  quite 
at  liberty  to  leave  me  to  myself.  I  and  my  doctrine  can 
do  without  them.  I  do  them  no  wrong,  no  injustice. 
The  sins  I  myself  commit  it  is  for  God  to  pardon." 
20 


3c6  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

Some  of  Luther's  biographers  have  seemed  to  take 
pleasure  in  exploiting  his  superstition  as  that  super- 
stition is  revealed  in  his  "Table  Talk."  It  may  be  said 
once  for  all  that  Luther,  while  in  advance  of  his  age 
in  many  things,  had  not  fully  shaken  off  the  supersti- 
tions that  the  Romish  Church  had  bound  about  him  in 
his  early  life,  and  he  was  never  entirely  free  from  them. 
It  would  be  manifestly  unfair  to  compare  this  en- 
lightened man  of  the  sixteenth  century  with  the  en- 
lightened men  of  the  twentieth  century. 

A  few  detached  aphoristic  sayings  will  conclude  our 
quotations  from  the  "Table  Talk." 

"There  is  an  undying  antagonism  between  the  law- 
yers and  the  theologians." 

"I  leave  the  shoemaker,  the  tailor,  and  the  lawyer  in 
their  proper  places.  But  let  them  beware  how  they  in- 
trude upon  my  province." 

"I  care  not  for  any  law  that  does  wrong  to  the  poor." 

"There  is  but  one  single  point  in  all  theology — gen- 
uine faith  and  confidence  in  Jesus  Christ.  This  article 
comprehends  all  the  rest." 

"Our  faith  is  an  unutterable  sigh." 

"Ah,  how  painful  it  is  to  lose  a  friend  that  one  has 
tenderly  loved." 

"Good  and  true  theology  consists  in  practice,  use,  and 
exercise.    Its  basis  and  foundation  is  Christ." 

"We  fear  the  cloud,  and  distrust  the  rainbow." 

"That  same  *why'  hath  done  us  a  great  deal  of  harm. 
It  was  the  cause  of  Adam's  destruction." 

"I  fear  two  things,  epicurism  and  enthusiasm ;  these 
are  the  schisms  that  are  still  to  come," 


Luther's  "Tabic  Talk."  307 

"The  devil  is  a  haughty  spirit,  and  can't  bear  to  be 
treated  with  contempt  in  any  way." 

"We  are  our  own  jailers." 

"He  who  destroys  the  doctrine  of  the  law,  at  the 
same  time  destroys  social  and  political  order." 

"One  of  these  days  some  new  books  will  be  started  in 
competition,  and  the  Holy  Scriptures  will  be  slighted, 
despised,  jerked  into  a  corner — thrown,  as  they  say, 
under  the  table.'' 

"That  which  contributes  in  no  slight  degree  to  affect 
and  try  men's  hearts  is  that  God  seems  to  them  ca- 
pricious and  changeable." 

"We  need  not  invite  the  devil  to  our  table.  He  is  too 
ready  to  come  without  being  asked." 

"The  devil  fears  the  Word  of  God.  He  can't  bite 
it.    It  breaks  his  teeth." 

"Faith  is  a  wonderful  thing.  It  makes  the  weak 
strong." 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
LuTHER^s  Last  Days. 

Martin  Luther  was  a  marvel  of  diligence.  Reared 
in  a  home  where  industry  was  a  law,  he  was  true  to  his 
tutelage.  He  did  not  relax  for  anything  but  sickness. 
He  had  many  helpers  in  his  great  labors  as  time  went 
on,  but  to  the  day  of  his  death  there  were  delicate  and 
vital  tasks  which  he  alone  could  carry  to  a  successful 
finish.  He  spent  much  of  his  time  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century  in  the  translation  of  the  Bible.  He  went 
over  this  again  and  again.  He  not  only  studied  He- 
brew that  he  miight  render  the  Old  Testament  into 
German;  he  studied  German  itself.  He  took  every 
opportunity  to  become  acquainted  with  the  language 
spoken  by  the  common  people.  He  used  his  own  ob- 
servation and  the  observation  of  his  friends  to  arrive 
at  this  acquaintance.  And  has  already  been  stated,  he 
helped  more  than  any  other  one  individual  of  his  own 
age  or  any  subsequent  age  in  fixing  the  German 
vernacular. 

And  he  wrought  in  many  other  fields.  If  all  that  he 
wrote  on  various  subjects,  notably  if  his  controversial 
writings  be  taken  into  account,  the  outcome  of  his  life 
work  in  this  particular  seems  enough  to  absorb  the  full 
sixty-three  years  that  he  lived. 

Next  to  his  translation  of  the  Bible  itself,  and  possibly 
to  his  catechisms,  his  most  valuable  literary  work  was 
his  commentaries  on  various  parts  of  the  Bible.    These 

(308) 


LntJicr's  Last  Days.  309 

of  course  originated  in  his  lectures  at  Wittenberg.  Ref- 
erence has  already  been  had  to  his  commentary  on  the 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  and  to  the  effect  it  had  on  the 
life  of  John  Wesley.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that, 
after  St.  Paul,  Martin  Luther  did  more  than  any  other 
man  to  formulate  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith. 
Martin  Luther  made  this  doctrine  luminous ;  John  Wes- 
ley vitalized  it  as  a  Christian  experience.  To  the  one 
it  was  a  dogma ;  to  the  other  it  was  a  living  fact  of 
Christian  experience. 

Luther  continued  his  lectures  up  to  the  last.  The  year 
before  he  died  he  completed  a  series  of  discourses 
on  the  book  of  Genesis.  He  preached  as  often  as 
strength  and  opportunity  allowed.  He  was  never  the 
regular  pastor  of  the  Wittenberg  Churches,  but  often 
served  in  that  capacity  in  the  absence  of  the  regular 
pastors ;  and  even  when  the  regular  incumbents  were 
in  place  he  had  free  access  to  the  pulpit  of  the  uni- 
versity chapel,  as  well  as  of  all  the  other  pulpits  of  the 
little  city.  In  his  several  journeys  he  preached  every- 
where he  went  if  time  afforded  an  opportunity.  If 
he  had  done  no  other  religious  work,  his  preaching 
alone  would  have  made  his  life  notable.  It  may  be 
stated  with  absolute  truth  that  one  of  the  effects  of 
the  great  Reformation  was  to  revive  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel.  Occasionally  here  and  there  during  the 
Middle  Ages  there  had  been  a  man  who  seemed  to 
realize  that  he  had  a  message  of  salvation  to  men ; 
but  the  mummeries  of  the  priests  from  Sabbath  to 
Sabbath  at  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation  had  little 
gospel  and  no  vitality. 


310  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

Luther's  life  toward  its  close  was  overshadowed  by 
the  disappointment  which  invariably  enters  into  the 
experience  of  great  men  who  undertake  great  things 
for  their  fellow-men.  Hope  is  an  essential  element  in 
the  mental  and  moral  equipment  for  such  movements, 
and  hope  that  inspires  to  heroic  effort  rarely  sees  a 
full  consummation  of  its  endeavor.  The  disappoint- 
ment of  Elijah  after  Carmel  was  so  bitter  that  he  was 
ready  to  die.  He  believed  that  the  fire  from  heaven 
and  the  shout  of  the  people  and  the  slaughter  of  the 
priests  of  Baal  meant  the  turning  of  the  whole  nation 
to  Jehovah  again.  When  he  found  later  that  the  scenic 
splendor  of  the  event  on  Carmel  had  not  brought  his 
loved  Israel  back  to  the  God  of  their  fathers,  he  was 
ready  to  pronounce  sentence  of  failure  upon  all  that 
he  had  done.  Deep  sadness  pervades  the  later  Epis- 
tles of  St.  Paul,  and  he  told  the  Ephesian  elders  that 
he  knew  that  after  his  death  greedy  wolves  would  break 
into  the  flock.  Every  apostle  and  every  reformer 
and  every  revivalist  has  sooner  or  later  realized  that 
as  yet  it  is  only  a  dream  that  a  nation  should  be  born 
in  a  day. 

Luther  was  disappointed  in  the  fruits  of  the  Refor- 
mation. At  first  there  had  been  a  marked  improve- 
ment in  morals  in  many  places.  Later  the  invariable 
reaction  came  on.  Even  in  Wittenberg  many  of  the 
people  went  back  to  their  old  ways.  All  this  distressed 
Luther  deeply.  It  gave  his  enemies  occasion  to  speak 
against  the  Protestant  movement.  They  said  that  it 
had  produced  no  moral  betterment  among  those  who 
accepted  Lutheranism.     So  seriously  did  Luther  take 


Luther's  Last  Days.  311 

all  this  that  he  proposed  to  Katharlna  that  they  should 
retire  to  their  little  farm  and  spend  their  remaining 
days  in  quietude.  But  of  course  the  friends  of  Luther 
and  of  Lutheranism  would  not  hear  to  all  this.  They 
insisted  that  Luther  was  needed  as  much  now  as  at 
any  time  in  all  the  several  stages  of  the  Reformation 
up  to  this  point  to  aid  in  correcting  the  evils  of  which 
he  complained.  The  magistrates  of  Wittenberg  prom- 
ised to  take  more  vigorous  steps  in  suppressing  cer- 
tain abuses  and  excesses.  The  situation  became  so 
unbearable  at  one  time  that  he  left  Wittenberg  for  a 
vacation,  and  was  rather  tardy  about  returning.  The 
change  helped  him  in  health  as  well  as  in  spirit,  and 
his  neighbors  became  so  much  concerned  over  his 
protracted  absence  that  the  town  authorities  promised 
to  take  immediate  action  in  the  matters  about  which 
Luther  felt  so  grieved.  The  Elector  John  Frederick 
sent  him  his  private  physician  to  minister  to  him 
in  some  ailment  from  which  he  was  suffering,  antl 
was  ready  to  scold  him  for  going  away  so  unceremo- 
niously. 

The  situation  of  the  Protestants  was  grave  enough 
to  occasion  apprehension.  The  Council  of  Trent  was 
coming  on.  At  first  there  had  been  the  hope  that  this 
council  would  be  composed  of  Protestants  as  well  as 
Catholics.  Charles  had  intimated  as  much  time  and 
again ;  and  a  papal  legate,  as  we  have  seen,  had  called 
on  Luther  in  the  interest  of  such  a  council.  Rut  all 
hope  of  anything  so  irenic  was  now  dispelled.  Paul, 
whatever  may  have  been  his  views  when  he  entered 
the  \^atican,  could  not  withstand  the  pressure  of  the 


312  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

curia.  Few  rulers,  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  have  divested 
themselves  willingly  of  any  of  their  authority.  Lu- 
ther knew  what  all  this  meant,  and  one  of  the  fiercest 
attacks  he  ever  made  on  the  papacy  was  his  last  one. 
Reference  has  already  been  made  to  this  onslaught. 

And  there  were  other  troubles.  The  ambitious  and 
unscrupulous  Maurice  had  succeeded  to  the  Saxon 
duchy.  He  was  ready  to  quarrel  with  his  kinsman, 
John  Frederick,  over  some  border  rights  on  the  line 
between  their  territories.  Maurice  was  nominally 
Protestant,  but  like  many  other  princes  of  his  time, 
his  religious  views  were  only  secondary  and  subsidiary 
to  his  political  ambitions.  The  friction  between  his 
elector  and  Maurice  grieved  Luther,  and  he  used  his 
good  offices  in  the  interest  of  peace.  In  this  he  was 
materially  aided  by  Philip  of  Hesse,  whose  daughter 
Maurice  had  wedded. 

The  hope  that  cheered  Luther  in  many  of  the  dark 
days  of  his  life,  and  which  came  to  him  at  this  time  as 
a  sort  of  last  expectation  of  relief,  was  that  the  second 
coming  of  Christ  was  near  at  hand.  He  interpreted 
various  passages  in  the  prophets  to  mean  this,  as  has 
already  been  stated,  and  the  conviction  grew  stronger 
as  he  grew  older.  He  seemed  to  see  no  other  escape 
for  the  Church,  and  he  rejoiced  in  this  hope  with  in- 
creasing satisfaction.  Perhaps  the  hope  itself  was 
born  of  his  increasing  concern  and  despondency.  This 
expectation  has  been  the  dernier  resort  of  many  good 
men  in  all  the  ages. 

If  Luther  was  at  times  morbid,  as  he  certainly  was, 
the  fact  is  not  a  matter  of  surprise.    Indeed,  the  won- 


Luther's  Last  Days.  313 

der  is  that  he  was  not  more  so.  It  was  only  natural 
that  he  should  brood  over  the  fact  that  he  was  a  po- 
litical outcast.  ]\Iore  than  this,  through  many  years 
his  mind  often  turned  to  thoughts  of  the  enmity  of 
Rome  that  was  liable  at  any  time  to  vent  itself  upon 
him  in  the  crudest  possible  death.  None  but  a  man 
mightily  upheld  of  God  could  have  borne  the  burden 
of  the  great  Reformation.  This  was  not  the  burden 
of  a  day  or  a  year ;  it  was  the  burden  of  a  lifetime.  Add- 
ed to  all  his  other  cares,  for  many  years  of  his  life  his 
health  was  precarious.  A  number  of  times  he  seemed 
in  the  very  grasp  of  death.  Often  he  was  forced  to 
suspend  all  work  for  days  together  on  account  of  phys- 
ical ailments.  He  suffered  for  a  score  of  years  with 
dizziness  and  pains  in  his  head,  and  sudden  fainting 
spells.  It  seems  that  his  heart  was  involved  function- 
ally, if  not  organically.  Deep  despondency  often  set- 
tled upon  him,  and  sometimes  his  harassed  soul  would 
break  out  in  bitter  denunciation  of  his  enemies  and 
complaints  that  were  like  echoes  from  the  plaint  of 
the  afflicted  man  of  Uz,  if  not  from  the  Man  of  Sor- 
rows himself.  Once,  so  the  story  goes,  he  was  so 
sorrowful  for  days  together  that  his  good  wife  with 
characteristic  good  sense  decided  to  employ  a  novel 
but  effective  remedy  for  his  persistent  depression. 
She  appeared  at  table  one  morning  dressed  in  deep 
mourning.  Luther  looked  at  her  in  surprise.  She 
answered  his  look  and  question  with  the  startling  ex- 
planation :  *'The  Lord  is  dead."  Luther  protested  that 
the  Lord  could  not  die.  Then  the  good  Katharina  told 
him  that  he  had  been  so  sad  of  late  that  she  supposed 


314  ^  ^^f^  of  Martin  Luther. 

he  had  lost  his  Lord.  The  appeal  was  one  that  would 
likely  strike  Luther  most  effectively,  and  he  rallied. 

Most  of  the  time,  however,  Luther  was  cheerful ; 
and  the  very  opposition  he  encountered  at  every  step 
of  his  way  seemed  but  to  make  him  stronger  and  more 
hopeful.  Like  the  stormy  petrel,  he  walked  the  waves 
of  his  troubled  life  with  a  fearlessness  that  never 
quailed  in  the  presence  of  the  never-ceasing  tempest. 

Infirmities  came  on  with  advancing  years  and  con- 
stant ill  health.  He  declared  that  he  was  prematurely 
old.  The  years  of  unwholesome  life  in  the  monastery 
were  exacting  the  tribute  for  overdrawn  strength  and 
an  underfed  body.  His  hair  turned  white.  His  eye- 
sight failed.  His  hearing  grew  dull.  Bodily  weak- 
ness was  his  constant  companion,  and  ever  a  matter 
of  weary  consciousness.  The  shadow  upon  the  dial 
plate  of  his  years  would  not  go  backward,  and  seemed 
to  go  onward  faster  as  the  sun  approached  its  setting. 
He  knew  that  his  day  was  nearly  done,  but  the  night 
had  no  terrors  for  him.  He  only  hastened  to  com- 
plete the  unfinished  tasks  before  the  darkness  should 
fall. 

There  was  pathetic  fitness  in  his  last  journey  and 
his  last  mission.  The  counts  of  Mans f eld  had  a  dis- 
pute of  long  standing.  They  decided  at  last  to  submit 
the  matter  to  the  decision  of  Martin  Luther.  These 
noblemen  were  willing  to  risk  the  justice  and  im- 
partiality of  this  son  of  a  peasant.  Human  authorities 
had  not  made  him  a  ruler  and  a  judge  over  them,  but 
they  knew  they  could  trust  Luther.  Character  counts 
for  more  than  official  titles  in  winning  men's  confidence. 


Luther's  Last  Days.  315 

These  counts  of  Luther's  native  place  were  unwittingly 
paying  the  highest  possible  tribute  to  the  integrity  of 
the  man  whose  birth  among  them  sixty  years  before 
had  attracted  no  attention  outside  the  narrow  circle  of 
the  family. 

Luther  journeyed  to  Eisleben,  his  native  town,  in 
the  middle  of  the  winter  of  1545-46  on  his  irwssion  of 
peace.  It  was  imprudent  for  him  to  make  such  a  trip 
at  this  time  of  year,  but  he  wished  to  act  as  mediator 
between  his  old  neighbors. 

This  Mansfeld  matter  really  required  three  journeys 
to  Eisleben.  The  first  of  these  was  made  in  October. 
But  the  counts  were  not  ready.  Coming  home,  he 
celebrated  his  last  birthday  with  his  family  and  friends. 
He  was  merry  and  playful,  and  seemed  full  of  hope. 
And  yet  he  seemed  to  have  a  presentiment  of  approach- 
ing death.  But  this  was  no  unusual  experience  with 
him.  He  finished  his  lectures  on  Genesis  in  No- 
vember. In  his  final  words  he  spoke  in  modest  self- 
depreciation  of  his  work,  and  said  that  he  hoped  an- 
other would  be  able  to  prepare  a  better  commentary 
on  this  book.  He  made  his  second  trip  to  Eisleben 
about  Christmas  time,  as  already  stated.  He  was  ac- 
companied by  Melanchthon,  as  well  as  some  others. 
Melanchthon  falling  ill,  Luther  brought  him  back  to 
Wittenberg.  The  last  journey  to  Eisleben  was  made 
late  in  January.  His  three  sons  and  their  tutor  ac- 
companied him,  as  did  Jonas.  He  preached  at  several 
points  along  the  way.  Arriving  at  Eisleben  about 
January  24,  1546,  he  was  received  with  distinguished 
honor.     A  cavalcade  of  soldiers  escorted  him  into  the 


3t6  a  Life  of  Martin  Luther, 

town.  He  was  given  quarters  in  a  most  comfortable 
building  belonging  to  the  town,  and  his  table  was  well 
supplied.  He  entered  at  once  upon  the  matters  in 
controversy  between  the  counts.  There  were  tedious 
details.  Lawyers  represented  the  contending  parties. 
Luther  sometimes  grew  impatient  and  wrote  to  Kath- 
arina  that  he  was  ready  to  "grease  his  carriage"  and 
''in  niea  ira"  start  homeward;  but  he  restrained  his 
impatience.  He  loved  all  Germany,  and  his  native 
place  especially,  and  was  ready  to  undergo  any  reason- 
able sacrifice  for  the  sake  of  his  compatriots  of  Mans- 
feld  and  Eisleben. 

In  the  meantime  the  good  Katharina  was  deeply 
anxious  about  his  health,  and  she  had  good  reason  to 
be.  On  his  way  to  Eisleben  he  had  encountered  high 
water,  cold  winds,  and  all  the  frigid  uncertainties  of  a 
German  winter.  Luther  reassured  her  and  reproved 
her.  He  wrote  to  her  three  times  in  fourteen  days. 
One  of  these  letters,  and  the  longest  of  them,  follows. 
The  real  Martin  Luther  is  in  it.  It  was  written  on  Feb- 
ruary 7,  1546,  and  the  original  is  still  preserved  in  the 
Rhediger  Library,  at  Breslau.  It  was  this  letter  that 
bore  the  humorous  address  to  his  wife  already  quoted. 
Here  is  the  letter: 

Mercy  and  peace  in  the  Lord.  Pray  read,  dear  Katie,  the 
gospel  of  St.  John  and  the  Catechism,  of  which  you  once  de- 
clared that  you  yourself  had  said  all  that  it  contained.  For 
you  wish  to  disquiet  yourself  about  your  God,  just  as  if  he 
were  not  almighty  and  able  to  create  ten  Martin  Luthers  for 
one  drowned  perhaps  in  the  Saale  or  fallen  dead  by  the  fire- 
place or  on  Wolf's  fowling  floor.  Leave  me  in  peace  with 
your  cares.     I  have  a  better  Protector  than  you  and  all  the 


Luther's  Last  Days.  317 

angels.  He  (my  Protector)  lies  in  the  manger,  and  hangs  upon 
a  virgin's  breast.  But  he  sits  also  at  the  right  hand  of  God 
the  Father  Almighty.    Rest  therefore  in  peace.    Amen. 

I  think  that  hell  and  all  the  world  must  now  be  free  from 
all  the  devils,  who  have  come  together  here  to  Eisleben  for 
my  sake,  it  seems,  so  hard  and  knotty  is  this  busnicss.  There 
are  fifty  Jews  here,  too,  as  I  wrote  you  before.  It  is  now  said 
that  at  Rissdorff,  hard  by  Eisleben,  where  I  fell  ill  before  my 
arrival,  more  than  four  hundred  Jews  were  walking  and  rid- 
ing about.  Count  Albert,  who  owns  all  the  country  round 
Eisleben,  hath  seized  them  upon  his  property,  and  will  have 
nothing  to  do  with  them.  No  one  has  done  them  any  harm 
as  yet.  The  widowed  Countess  of  Mansfeld  is  thought  to  be 
the  protectress  of  the  Jews.  I  don't  know  whether  it  is  true, 
but  I  have  given  my  opinion  in  quarters  where  I  hope  it  will 
be  attended  to.  It  is  a  case  of  beg,  beg,  beg,  and  helping  them. 
For  I  had  it  in  my  mind  to-day  to  grease  my  carriage  wheels 
in  mea  ira.  But  I  felt  the  misery  of  it  too  much;  my  native 
home  held  me  back.  I  have  been  made  a  lawyer,  but  they 
will  not  gain  by  it.  They  had  better  have  let  me  remain  a 
theologian.  If  I  live  and  come  among  them,  I  might  become 
a  hobgoblin  who  would  comb  down  their  pride  by  the  grace  of 
God.  They  behave  as  if  they  were  God  himself,  but  must 
tnke  care  to  shake  oflf  these  notions  in  good  time  before  their 
Godhead  becomes  a  devilhcad,  as  happened  to  Lucifer,  who 
could  not  remain  in  heaven  for  pride.  Well,  God's  will  be 
done.  Let  Master  Philip  see  this  letter,  for  I  had  no  time  to 
write  to  him;  and  you  may  comfort  yourself  with  the  thought 
how  much  I  love  you,  as  you  know.  And  Philip  will  under- 
stand it  all. 

We  live  very  well  here,  and  the  town  council  gives  me  for 
each  meal  half  a  pint  of  "Reinfall."  Sometimes  I  drink  it 
with  my  friends.  The  wine  of  the  country  here  is  also  good ; 
and  Naumberg  beer  is  very  good,  though  I  fancy  its  pitch 
fills  my  chest  with  phlegm.  The  devil  has  spoiled  all  the  beer 
in  the  world  with  his  pitch,  and  the  wine  with  his  brimstone. 
But  here  the  wine  is  pure,  such  as  the  country  gives. 


3i8  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

And  know  that  all  letters  you  have  written  have  arrived, 
and  to-day  those  have  come  which  you  wrote  last  Friday, 
together  with  Master  Philip's  letters,  so  you  need  not  be 
angry. 

Sunday  after  St.  Dorothea's  day  (February  7,  1546). 

Your  loving  Martin  Luther. 

A  week  later  he  wrote  to  Katharina  telling  her  of 
the  happy  termination  of  his  mission,  and  rejoicing  that 
God  was  "Exauditor  preciim."  He  also  sent  her  a 
nice  lot  of  trout,  a  present  from  Albert,  and  assured 
her  that  he  would  take  his  journey  homeward  during 
the  week.  He  did  take  that  journey,  but  went  in  his 
coffin.  This  was  his  last  letter  to  his  beloved  Katha- 
rina. 

Luther's  mission  to  Eisleben  was  eminently  suc- 
cessful. An  amicable  agreement  was  reached.  Cer- 
tain questions  touching  a  division  of  revenue  between 
the  Church  and  the  schools  were  settled,  and  the 
schools  of  this  part  of  Germany  are  still  rejoicing  in  the 
fruits  of  this  settlement.  The  pacification  was  re- 
ceived with  great  joy  by  old  and  young.  On  Sun- 
day, February  14,  Luther  preached  for  the  last  time. 
He  cut  his  sermon  short  with  the  remark  that  there  was 
much  more  to  the  gospel,  but  he  was  too  weak  to  speak 
of  it  then.  He  had  not  told  all  the  story  (as  who  has?), 
and  he  wanted  his  hearers  to  remember  the  inexhaust- 
ible depths  of  the  infinite  gospel. 

Luther  became  alarmingly  weak  after  the  Sabbath 
on  which  he  preached  his  last  sermon.  The  details  of 
the  settlement  were  not  fully  arranged,  but  Luther  was 
spared  the  worry  of  these.    His  necessary  official  sig- 


Luther's  Last  Days.  319 

nature  to  the  terms  of  the  agreement  was  all  that  was 
asked  of  him.  As  for  the  rest,  all  that  the  most  loyal 
friends  and  the  best  skill  of  the  times  could  do  in  the 
way  of  medical  treatment  was  given  to  the  sick  and 
dying  reformer.  On  Wednesday  he  complained  of 
oppression  in  his  chest.  Hot  cloths  were  used  in  the 
afternoon,  and  he  seemed  better.  That  evening  at  sup- 
per he  came  from  his  little  bedroom  and  took  his  place 
at  the  supper  table.  He  declared  that  there  was  no 
satisfaction  in  being  alone.  He  was  apparently  much 
better.  He  talked  cheerfully,  even  merrily,  with  the 
company.  But  as  always,  there  was  more  than  mere 
pastime  in  his  conversation. 

After  supper  he  seemed  not  so  well,  but  grew  easier, 
and  at  nine  o'clock,  as  was  his  wont,  he  stood  in  front 
of  the  window  and,  looking  out  upon  the  winter  night, 
prayed  earnestly.  Then  he  lay  down  upon  a  leather 
lounge  in  the  room,  and  fell  into  a  peaceful  sleep. 
This  lasted  for  an  hour  or  more,  when  he  awoke  and 
was  again  given  treatment  for  his  shortness  of  breath. 
Then  he  fell  asleep  again  on  his  bed  in  his  private 
apartment.  After  midnight  he  awoke  and  complained 
of  being  cold.  Soon  he  began  to  suffer  great  agony. 
All  efforts  to  relieve  him  were  in  vain.  The  end  was 
near  at  hand.  He  was  strong  enough  to  leave  his  bed 
and  walk  from  one  room  to  another.  "Into  thy  hands 
I  commend  my  spirit,  O  Father !"  he  cried  several 
times,  "for  thou  hast  redeemed  me." 

Several  times  he  repeated  the  sixteenth  verse  of  the 
third  chapter  of  John:  "For  God  so  loved  the  world, 
that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  be- 


320  A  Life  of  Martin  Luther. 

lieveth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting 
Hfe." 

He  threw  himself  upon  his  bed  once  more.  His  ex- 
tremities grew  cold.  Justus  Jonas,  who  had  been  with 
him  all  the  time,  bent  over  him  and  asked :  "Venerable 
father,  wilt  thou  stand  by  Christ  and  the  doctrines  thou 
hast  preached?" 

And  from  the  lips  of  the  dying  reformer  came  a 
whispered  but  emphatic  "Yes."  He  turned  upon  his 
right  side,  drew  one  long,  deep  breath,  and  was  dead. 
He  died  between  two  and  three  o'clock  in  the  morning 
of  Thursday,  February  i8,  1546. 

Germany  had  known  no  more  sorrowful  night  in 
all  its  history.  A  great  conqueror  had  not  gone  down 
before  the  conqueror  of  all ;  a  great  king  had  not  sur- 
rendered to  the  king  of  terrors.  Martin  Luther,  the 
great  reformer,  was  no  more ! 

A  cry  of  sorrow  went  up  from  all  Protestant  Ger- 
many when  it  was  known  that  Martin  Luther  was 
dead.  The  Elijah  of  the  great  Reformation  had  fallen. 
"The  chariot  of  Israel  and  the  horsemen  thereof"  had 
departed.  The  mightiest  man  of  his  age,  and  one  of 
the  mightiest  of  all  the  ages,  was  ready  to  be  laid  in 
his  grave  close  to  the  church  on  whose  doors  he  had 
posted  the  theses  that  stirred  the  world.  But  he  died 
not  by  the  hands  of  the  pope  nor  by  the  sentence  of  the 
princes,  but  in  his  own  bed,  surrounded  by  his  devoted 
friends,  and  from  natural,  providential  causes,  at  the 
call  of  his  Master. 

His  papal  enemies  with  Satanic  hate  sought  to  libel 
him  even  in  death.     A  year  before  he  died  they  had 


Luther's  Last  Days.  321 

circulated  a  slanderous  report  of  his  death  and  the 
manner  of  his  passing.  The  heathen  motto:  "Dc  nior- 
tuis  )iil  nisi  boiiinn,"  has  not  restrained  tlie  vindictive 
tongues  of  the  Roman  Catholics  concerning  Martin  Lu- 
ther, lying  peacefully  in  his  grave  in  the  churchyard  in 
Wittenberg  these  four  hundred  }-ears. 

A  last  painting  of  the  reformer  was  made  by  an 
humble  artist  in  Eisleben,  and  a  wax  bust  w^as  made 
from  the  body.  Friends  vied  with  each  other  in  lion- 
oring  the  man  w'ho  had  honored  his  people  and  liis 
Lord.  A  great  funeral  procession  followed  the  body 
c.n  its  journey  to  Wittenberg.  In  every  town  and  vil- 
lage and  hamlet  through  wdiich  the  mournful  company 
passed  on  the  sorrowful  journey  the  people  rose  up  to 
honor  the  dead  man  and  to  weep  at  his  going. 

The  procession  reached  Wittenberg  on  February  24, 
and  here  on  the  day  following  there  was  a  great  fu- 
neral, with  solemn  ceremonies  and  sorrowful  hearts 
in  every  home  in  the  little  city. 

The  centuries  have  borne  testimony  to  the  work  of 
Martin  Luther.  The  Christian  world  has  made  up  its 
verdict  as  to  the  character  of  that  work ;  while  the 
man  himself,  who  was  only  a  man,  subject  to  like  pas- 
sions with  ourselves,  has  gone  into  the  presence  of  the 
Judge  to  whom  he  appealed'  his  case  from  the  de- 
cision of  popes  and  diets,  and  we  know  that  the  Judge 
of  all  the  earth  will  do  right. 
21 


